


hello yearning: a'plyae mae

by googlevixx



Series: Fae Days [1]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2018-11-22 18:52:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 92,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11386287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/googlevixx/pseuds/googlevixx
Summary: Jung Taekwoon, a fourth tier soccer player in the K3 division of Korea's football leagues, juggles the struggle of raising his nephew as well as pushing his career forward when he unconsciously commits an act which bestows a faerie of good fortune upon him. A problem; the faerie is very mischievous. Another problem; the faerie is also very, very attractive.





	1. Gallimaufry

Taekwoon accidentally saves the life of a child, and that’s how it starts. He hadn’t thought that the kid was in danger or anything like that, it was just that he didn’t want his nephew’s friend to fall into the depths off the coast of Hallyeohaesang National Marine Park, where the air is always tangy and the wind tastes of sea salt.

At seven years old, the child was full of wonder, and had leaned too far for Taekwoon’s comfort over the edge of the fence that separated the small group from the crashing waves below. With the reaction time of a caregiver who had spent too much time with a toddler, the six foot something Korean man swooped the boy from the top of the fence- only to watch as the section of the chain link fence the boy had been climbing on fell away with a clang. 

Taekwoon watched apprehensively as the metal crashed against the rocks that made up the cliffs below, swallowing thickly when he realized, whoa, that was a really close call.

The child in his arms seemed to grasp this concept at the same time, because wide and terror-stricken eyes searched Taekwoon’s own chocolate hues before he began to cry. They were loud, body wracking sobs, and the football player resigned himself to his fate, consoling the fearful creature before it was snatched from Taekwoon’s grasp and coddled by an equally panicked mother. 

He didn’t think he’d done anything particularly heroic, but when he was being thanked like he was Herculean, it was hard not to have some pride. Taekwoon totally didn’t puff out his chest at the praise from the kid’s mother, as it was. Nope. Not a bit.

As he’s busy trying to bring both mother and child to a state of calm, Taekwoon’s gaze wanders, searching for the child that he was actually in charge of supervising.  
Taekwoon’s nephew was away from the commotion, thankfully, within a horde of students listening intently to a folktale that he was sure the park highly capitalized on. Actually, he was thankful there wasn’t much propaganda around the place. It meant the kids could actually enjoy the scenery. Taekwoon did, however, nearly roll his eyes when the tour guide -a woman in her mid-thirties who was supposed to know the area like the palm of her hand- sent a wink his way. Very professional. Luckily, he remembered himself in time, and managed a wry smile in return before gathering his bearings. They would have to head back soon to the bus waiting for the twenty some kids to take back to their school. Considering that it had taken an energetic bunch almost two hours of walking just to reach this part of the trip, Taekwoon knew he was going to be hearing more than a few exhausted grumbles on the way back.

There were already Park Services officers attending to the area devoid of fence under the watchful eye of a few other parents that had been suckered into child supervision for the field trip. Rolls of yellow caution tape marked off the empty space, and Taekwoon took this as a sign to leave. With a gentle hand to the back of the still sniffling mother’s back, the football player steers them toward the rest of the group. No doubt the park would want a statement, and Taekwoon knew this day was going to be a lot longer than he expected.

“Oh, Jung, I just don't know what I would have done,” Minjee was blubbering, clutching the son who was no longer looking so much scared as annoyed. Taekwoon shakes his head, actually smiling sincerely now.

“I can imagine. If anything happened to Minyul, I would be beside myself,” is his curt reply, voice neutral. He had an image to uphold after all. It wouldn’t do well if someone were to snap a picture of him speaking to this woman looking too comfortable. He didn’t want a dating scandal on his hands when he was well on his way of getting out of the fourth tier of the football league. “But, Dohyun is safe. There is no harm done.”

Minjee opens her mouth again as if to argue, but Taekwoon can already tell that she’s coming back to herself and he thanks all his lucky stars for that. Taekwoon liked her, he really did. She was a doting mother, even if she was forgetful at times, and the school events that they sometimes worked together for always went well if she had anything to say about it. It was just… He really didn’t enjoy long conversations with people he didn’t very well know. They just didn’t do much for him, so when a park officer -not either one of the previous two who were aiding with the fence- emerges from the tour station and approaches the pair, Taekwoon happily leaves to let the situation unfold. A growing sense of unease was building in the pit of his stomach, and he wanted to get Minyul home and safe as quickly as possible. 

Minyul hardly seemed to have noticed what happened, too enraptured by the story of the Fae Folk who were said to have crossed the ocean to come to this very spot and make peace with Korea’s own mythical creatures; most notably Chollima. A pretty tale, if Taekwoon were to admit, and he allows himself a moment to listen.

**Excerpt From Third The Work of Han Gyeon (1625)**

_With trepidation we walk through these woods, the crunching of twigs beneath our feet crisp and echoing as the trees hum with life. Every so often a face appears woven into the framework of branches and leaves and we know that this is the world we were not meant to be, but have been granted permission for this occasion and this occasion only. A man, I think it is a man, whistles a tune from behind me, but I do not dare to look back lest I forego any sight of the beauty we are to exchange greetings with. In our hands, the pools of fresh spring water we were ordered to gather so often drip onto the pathway below, gnarled limbs of roots clearing the way ahead of us. There is so far to go as of yet, and ahead, the faint neigh of a horse beckons us forward._

This is what Taekwoon remembered. He could recite the passage off by heart, which wasn’t surprising considering he had asked his mother to read this to him again and again before he found it in him to rest for the night as a child. Watching his nephew experiencing the same feelings, developing the same glint in his eye as he heard the story told to him, it warmed something within Taekwoon’s heart that he didn’t know was there. Or, maybe he had just forgotten about it. 

“And that’s about all the time we have for today!” Is the cheerful exclaim from the tour guide, the park badge glinting proudly off the chest of her uniform as she stands to attention. Minyul blinks the same way he does when he comes to from a particularly satisfying nap, and it takes far too much energy than Taekwoon will admit not to coo at his nephew’s cuteness even as the rest of the kids start to rouse again. They’ve gotten pretty used to lining up already, and for that Taekwoon is thankful, because he did not want another incident like the previous one. All of the adults, parents and park workers alike, seemed to be paying more attention now anyway. Unfortunately, the weight on Taekwoon’s chest had yet to ease, and he reached out for Minyul’s hand so that the press of a tiny palm against his could help. It did, and he was much more confident that nothing would happen to his precious nephew as the group moved further and further away from the sets of jagged rock jutting out from the water below. What kind of an uncle would he be if he couldn’t even keep his own family safe. Taekwoon was Minyul’s legal guardian after all. 

**Excerpt From The Third Work of Han Gyeon (1625)**

_To be understood as a translation into modern speak of the 20th century. Translation as approved by professors Choi Yongmin and Kim Soyee of Korea University’s Linguistics Department and the International Circle of Korean Linguistics._

_To behold the Senrima in its pure essence is a majesty beyond the words I can put to paper. Feathered wings gathered into a graceful arc when the beast was at rest, grazing peacefully, hooves of silver and gold trotting across the expanse of green grass as somewhere, the gurgle of a creek sets the music for the grove. It is not white as I have come to know it as, but a glorious deep amber, pelt reflecting the sun so that a sheen of honey hues decorated its flesh. We did not go unnoticed by it for long, as with one turn of its mighty head the ancient brute regarded us with a level stare. In the briefest of moments, I made contact with the creature and a shiver ran down my spine. Eyes of far too human a making mirrored mine, copper eyes flecked with bright brass a cacophony of colours and its tail flicked once to the left. It seemed to me and mine that the monster- for what else could a creature of this size be as it dwarfed even the tallest of men?- was determining our worth. The bravest soul among us stepped forward, and to me caught unto my sleeve and whispered a warning. “Master,” he began, “do not fret. This is what is meant.” And he stepped forward with not a break in pace to allow the Pegasus a drink from the spring water in his hand. With fascination and repulsion I saw as the mortal’s hand was enveloped, only to emerge from Chomilla’s mouth unscathed. A right of passage. Many of us followed. Only three were left behind, not to engage with the folk that lay just beyond this patch of land. Perhaps Chomilla sought their company. Perhaps Chomilla were protecting the sky- dancers. Free of our first burden, the group of seven now marched on, not allowing our gazes to linger behind us for fortune be lost._

There were markers like this littering the way to the cliffside tour base they had left, and while it was nothing for Taekwoon to read, Minyul was still having some trouble.  
“Ta,” the child began, referring to his uncle with the nickname Taekwoon had long since been branded by. “My feet are tired.” Ah, so it was a complaint. Nothing to fear, Uncle Ta was here. Without so much as a sound, he knelt down to do exactly what his nephew liked best; give the kid a piggy-back ride. A squeal of excitement and then Taekwoon grunt as the weight of the pudgy child was added to his back. It wasn’t so bad. Years of fitness training meant Minyul felt more like a sack of potatoes than a growing boy. Taekwoon smiled at that, even as the boy’s face nestled into the crook of his neck between his head and shoulder. If all blessings were in order, Minyul would fall asleep like that and make the rest of the walk back a lot easier for his caregiver. 

Taekwoon loved that kid. Loved him more than he could remember ever loving anything else. It could be because Minyul was essentially his child now. The circumstances could have been a lot better than they were, but if Taekwoon had to lose a sibling, then at least there was someone left behind. But, he wasn’t going to think about that now as the group was entering into the first part of the trail. It would be easier to walk from here on out, and the football player cast a glance behind him to ensure that the rest of the group was, indeed, following just behind them. Taekwoon couldn’t really help but walk ahead. His long legs were an asset on the field just as much as they were in everyday life. They got him places a lot faster, that was for sure. 

“Ta…” He hears the call, softly at first before the whining voice grows and Taekwoon knows for sure that something is wrong. 

“Min-ah,” he responds like he’s sure is expected, slowing his pace. Only a half kilometer to go. They had been so close.

“Gotta pee.” Taekwoon groans. 

“C’mon, kiddo. Can’t hold it?”

“Gotta pee NOW.” Well, shit. If he wasn’t around a group of first grader’s Taekwoon might not have been able to hold that one back. 

“OK, ok, let’s go and find a spot.” He was just glad that they were somewhere still somewhat secluded. If there wasn’t an abundance of shrubbery around, they would have been in a tight spot. As it was, they were far enough ahead of the main group that the uncle and nephew could step away from the main trail and find a more private place to, er, do the deed. Normally, Taekwoon would frown at such behavior, but Minyul wasn’t even old enough to walk to school by himself, so what could he really expect?

“Alright, I’m right here. You can be a big boy and do it by yourself if I turn around, yeah?” It was mostly to keep watch. Taekwoon had a keen eye, and he was always sure to put it to use, particularly if Minyul’s safety was jeopardized. 

Said nephew seemed to have already gotten the idea, because Taekwoon heard a zipping sound that could only be an actual zipper and so he took to staring out into the green that surrounded them instead. 

This place really was quite beautiful if one took the time to see it. It was particularly nice now, when the September air had yet to become too chilled to enjoy the day but the sun was still pleasantly warm on his face even through the dappled shade of the foliage above. Taekwoon smiled. He felt just like a character from one of the old stories when it was like this, so different from the hustle and bustle of daily life that lie just beyond the trees.

And then he sees it. He almost doesn’t believe it at first, because surely if there was a person out here, they wouldn’t blend in so well to the scenery? Taekwoon squints, trying to peer further at the spot that he was sure the face sprung out of, trying to give some clarity to the image. It wasn’t a trick of the light. Or, at least, he didn’t think it was. The face had been so realistic, staring benevolently right at him with an unwavering gaze. Hell, Taekwoon thought he’d even seen a twinkle in its deep set brown eyes. Big eyes. Not like Taekwoon’s own slanted ones, but round like the cheeks they were set above and curved with impish glee.

So where had the face gone?

Taekwoon really wished he had decided to walk alongside Minjee, and as soon as there’s an affirmative noise from the adolescent at his side, he wastes no time, swooping Minyul up and onto his shoulders so that pudgy calves rested on either side of his neck. Minyul whooped. Taekwoon stared solemnly at the place that he knew the face disappeared from before beginning his walk back to the carved out trail through the forest area. Every so often, he glanced back, but even though there was never a sign of anything following him, Taekwoon couldn’t shake the feelings that he was being watched.

When they got back to the buses, gratefully unscathed but for a manner of scrapes and bruises that all children seemed to get no matter what activity they were engaged in, the sensation had subsided somewhat. Taekwoon was a large man, powerfully built with broad shoulders and a shorter torso that sometimes made it hard to find shirts that fit properly, but he was certain he would be able to hold his own in a physical altercation. He just didn’t particularly want to if it wasn’t necessary. He did think about what he would do if that thing from in the trees came after him, though, and there weren’t very many pretty images that came of it. 

Don’t think about manslaughter, Taekwoon, you’re with juveniles.

A whistle sounds from somewhere, the blaring screech cutting through the din of activity in the parking lot.

“Ta, gotta go,” Minyul tugs at Taekwoon’s ear, the larger man obligingly tipping his head to the side to allow for the minor abuse. Ah, right. Minyul was still on his shoulders, which meant that Taekwoon was incredibly careful as he knelt down to allow the small boy down to gather up with his friends again. He chatted so animatedly, using big gestures of his arms and his whole body to convey his ideas, and Uncle Taekwoon was glad that Minyul could be so confident. (Regular Adult Taekwoon knew that this behaviour would soon be frowned upon and that he’d have to teach the boy proper manners soon, but for now he would have the pleasure of watching his nephew grow up in his own loud way.)  
“They are cute.” And Taekwoon smiles at the sound of Minjee’s voice, the one that he was familiar with, the one that wasn’t jittery and unstable. He nods a confirmation, the look in his eyes much more tender now as he watched Minyul board the bus with the rest of the class. One small, plump hand raises to wave at his uncle, and then the youth is gone in a flurry of bright colours that suited toddler fashion to a T.

The football player would be following close behind in his own car, partly to make sure that there was no danger of him getting lost on the way out, but mostly because he could be overbearing and he wanted to know that the bus was going in the right direction. He was living in a scary time, and he wanted to take every precaution, especially when there was a trip all the way out here, where there were places so secluded that he was sure no person had actually trod there yet.

For some reason, when Taekwoon starts driving away from the park, he starts thinking about the face he had seen.


	2. Dithyramb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon gets a shock. Or two. Or three.

"Why're your arms so long?"

"Excuse me?" Incredulous, Taekwoon regards his teammate through hooded eyes even as a bead of sweat falls past his bangs and down the side of his face. It was hot out. He was hot. Jinsoo was not helping. 

"Your. Arms. Are. Long." The man of the hour drags out, pausing at intervals between his words as though Taekwoon were dumb or hard of hearing. "And you're tall. You really ought to be playing basketball or something." 

Taekwoon huffs, raven locks drenched in perspiration when he reaches up to run a hand through them. Grimacing in disgust, he wipes his palm against the front of his practice jersey, watching as Jinsoo begins to punt the black and white checkered football against both of his knees, not daring to meet Taekwoon’s eyes.  
"Are you trying to get me to quit?" He fires back, voice devoid of any threats, but serious nonetheless. 

"Nah, man. Well, there'd be more of a chance of me getting recruited by one of the upper leagues if you did, but I'd miss you too much. No one here's got a poker face like you." Jinsoo was referring to the time that he and the rest of the team had gotten their first win at nationals. There was an after party that their coach deeply frowned upon the idea of, so it had been Taekwoon's job to set their coach's mind at ease. 

"I like football." 

Jinsoo huffs out a chuckle, sounding winded after the drills that they had just recently finished, before grabbing onto the football and tucking it under his armpit, slinging his free arm around Taekwoon's shoulders. Their height difference meant that Taekwoon had to accommodate by stooping down a bit to make up for lost inches.  
Jinsoo was alright most of the time. Taekwoon wouldn't trust him with a soggy piece of toast, but he was decent enough. What the man lacked in stature, he made up in stamina, endurance, and swiftness. He was probably the fastest player their team had because he was nimble and dexterous, slipping through gaps in the opposing team's defense that they most likely had no idea were even there. Jinsoo could be lazy, though, and he enjoyed partying a bit too much for Taekwoon's liking, but at least they got along on their line.  
"Oh yeah. A few other guys and I were gonna go get dinner after this. You busy?" 

They always offered, and Taekwoon was always grateful for that, but-

There's a smile on his face when he shakes his head. 

"Sorry, I have to pick up Minyul from tutoring." Even if his tutoring session was mostly just to make sure that Minyul was developing his skills properly. Taekwoon was very against the intense training that a few of the kids at Minyul's school were put through by their parents, but he didn't want the child to fall behind either.

"Gotcha. Why don't you let him come watch us practice sometime? I'm sure he'd like it," Jinsoo suggests, patting Taekwoon's back hard twice in a gesture of affection before grabbing his football and starting to pass it between his hands. The turf under their feet squelches with every step of their cleats, and Taekwoon shrugs, kicking away some of the ludicrously coloured ground.

“I like when there is someone to watch him. And he would be distracted here.” It was a lame excuse, but if the suddenly tightening of Jinsoo’s lips meant anything, it was that Taekwoon wouldn’t be questioned any further. He was relieved for that, and soon their short break for catching their breaths and re hydrating was over and the two were back to practicing their footwork with the rest of the team. 

About ten years previously, Taekwoon was a rising football star out of a small town south of Gwangju. He had two elder sisters, both of whom he treasured dearly even if they were sometimes overbearing and insistent on embarrassing him in any way they deemed fit, but they were also the two people who pushed him the hardest to follow his dream of competing professionally. In his second to last year of high school, Taekwoon was offered a position on a national team, and thus sparked his career. He’d had trouble in his last year when conflicts between his final exams and championships set him back from the rest of his teammates, and the rising star began to fall. From then, there always seemed to be some excuse to not allow him to play. Taekwoon was sure that it was a type of revenge from his coaches for him putting graduation before the team, and there were games afterwards where Taekwoon did not play at all. He had to claw his way back to being recognized for his talent, but through it all, he had the two most important people at his side to continue urging him all. Through his trials, his siblings remained his biggest fans, coming to cheer for him at games whenever they could and always congratulating him on a job well done. And then Taekwoon started to have more reasons to be happy, because his sisters began to grow up as well, finding partners that he approved up and starting their own families. Minyul was born. 

Taekwoon was twenty- one and in the midst of being traded to another team, one whose home field was close to the place he grew up in and would be easier to commute to, when there was an accident. 

She was only trying to come home from her day job, the one she only ever spent four hours a day at because she didn’t like leaving Minyul with other people for very long. The middle child of the trio of siblings had always been fiercely protective of her brother, so why wouldn’t she be of her son? She had been coming home when her car stalled in the middle of the intersection, and Taekwoon can vividly remember the marred, disfigured mass of bone and flesh that had been pulled out of the wreckage of the crash that ensued. He remembers blaming anyone that he could; his parents for not looking after her, his brother-in-law for not being there to stop it. He blamed himself for being too caught up in his career to properly thank the woman for giving him so much of her time. But, she had left Minyul behind, and when it became apparent that Minyul’s biological father was unable to properly care for the boy due to the nature of his work, custody was ruled in favour of Taekwoon. It had not been an easy adjustment. Minyul had been three years old when he came to live with Taekwoon, and caring for a toddler while also worrying about which direction to take in his own life had taken its toll on Taekwoon’s state of mind.  
The football player took a year to determine what he was interested in. It helped that he and Minyul always got along. Taekwoon HAD been present at the hospital the day Minyul was born to congratulate his sister and welcome the new life into the world with an abundance of balloons and a bouquet fit for a queen. He would cherish the memory of that day. 

In that time, Taekwoon learned everything he could about Minyul. His nephew liked the colour green and he was very proud of the pictures he drew. Taekwoon kept a folder of all the drawings Minyul made for him. Minyul also liked fairy tales, and when he came to realize that his uncle had a lot of them, the boy would spend hours staring at the pretty designs in the books in wonder. Minyul started to call his uncle ‘Ta’ when he saw Taekwoon’s name printed on a player card and found he couldn't quite pronounce it properly. Taekwoon never corrected him. 

When it came time to start thinking about places to enroll Minyul for school, Taekwoon sought out any place he could get to that was within a safe distance of his apartment building and reasonably reputable. Minyul is five and Taekwoon has been coaching minor league football for six months when he gets the call from an agent about an opportunity to try out for a national team. He makes the cut, and with Minyul in school for hours at a time, he doesn't have to worry so much. But, Taekwoon still does worry, because if anything were to take Minyul from him now, there would be nothing to keep him from falling apart at the seams.

As it is, Taekwoon thinks he’s doing a pretty good job of keeping everything together because he hardly ever hesitates anymore. When there are things he’s unsure of, his parents and sister are only a phone call away, even if his mother has started referring to Minyul as Taekwoon’s son now. His heart always ached at that, but he knew she would never take it too far. Minyul knew that he had had a mother but that she was out of reach now, which indicated pretty good comprehension skills from the child. Still, Taekwoon wondered if Minyul would have turned out different if he had continued being raised by his mother. Would she have done things differently? Would she be proud of her little brother for taking care of her son? Taekwoon hoped she would have been, and he didn’t think Minyul was turning out half bad even if he was a little bit loud and disruptive sometimes. So sue him, he wanted his nephew to have fun in his youth.  
Taekwoon continues to dribble the ball between his feet. 

 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯ 

 

Taekwoon’s home life is wonderfully and awfully domestic. His two bedroom apartment suite had always felt too big when he was alone, but now that he had his nephew living with him, it was tough to find enough space for himself. Haphazardly strewn about the apartment were toys and games of all kinds, including the ones that Minyul had played with as a baby that Taekwoon claimed he didn’t have the time to take away but in actuality he wanted to hold onto for safe keeping. On a few walls were leftover streaks of reds, blues, browns and pinks from crayons that Taekwoon could never properly clean away, and so it was safe to assume that the home looked as though it were in absolute turmoil most of the time. However, Taekwoon hardly cared, because it was more lived in like this than it had ever been before, when it was quiet and lonely place. He had avoided it back then, because while he liked having time to himself, Taekwoon hated the feeling of being left by himself. Now it was different, and he wouldn’t change it in the least (save for the pieces of Lego that always seemed to be right where his bare feet needed to go in the mornings). 

Even now Taekwoon could hear Minyul giggling to himself in the other room while the drone of the television continued its monotonous murmur. Taekwoon smiled to himself as he finished pushing the wet clothes into the dryer, glad that he would have the next few days off to be with the boy. There was a constant, nagging doubt that festered in the football player's mind that he could be spending more time with Minyul or encouraging his nephew to be more social and make more friends. However, Taekwoon was also selfish, and there were precious memories that were still to be made between the two and the loss of time that would come with Minyul having other kids over... It made him seethe a little bit. Or maybe he was afraid that Minyul would grow away from him when he thought of his uncle as no longer worth his time. Taekwoon frowned at that, shutting the dryer door with a gesture more forceful than necessary and wiping his hands on the back of his jeans. He was not going to be frustrated by this fantasy any longer, he told himself, taking in a long breath through his nose to curb the edge to the hostile thoughts before he started to make his way back into the den of the apartment. 

Taekwoon was nearing the door when the rumble of another voice made him freeze. He frantically tried to rationalize, sure that his moment of panic would be soothed when he turned the corner and found that Minyul had simply turned the volume on the television up too loudly, or maybe it was the neighbours having a heated argument. But, Taekwoon knew that he left the channel on some sort of cartoon his nephew liked before he went to put the laundry away, and the only other person he should be able to hear from this spot was the elderly woman in the suite to his right-

“Wow, you’re a good drawer!”

That was it.

Taekwoon sprinted into action, thanking any good spirits looking after him for his long legs once again and also congratulating his past self for thinking to hide some sort of weapon in almost every room. In this case, just behind the washing machine was a thick wooden bat, a bit on the shorter side, but enough to pack a punch in a tight situation. Taekwoon was grabbing the thing was so much force he was surprised that there was no snap of wood between his fingers from the vice-like grip. He swallowed hard.

Minyul was giggling. Which was good, he guessed, because that meant that no physical harm was coming to him, but it was also bad because the kid loved basically anyone that could make him laugh. 

Taekwoon was moving as silently as he could, his socks brushing against the cold wooden floors with barely a sound so that it was only his ragged breathing he had to be worried about. There was no way he was going to take the chance of being found out if it put his nephew in harm’s way. He could wait until he had a sure shot at the stranger in his home. He could wait until that out of place voice become too loud…

“Where did you say your uncle went?”

“Ta’s over there,” Minyul was informing the mysterious figure, and from this vantage point, with Taekwoon’s slender body concealed behind the laundry room door, he could peer through the crack between the door frame and the wall to look at the shock of dirty blond hair that belonged to the male currently sitting cross-legged beside Minyul on the floor. Of facial features, Taekwoon made sure to remember a prominent nose, bow-shaped lips and a face on the rounder side. Taekwoon wanted to curse at the broad shoulders he saw, trying to mentally calculate just how BIG the guy was and if he had a chance to take him down without breaking too much furniture.

“Oh, really? We should call him out here!” And the guy was smiling so brightly at Minyul that a rage began to bubble up inside him even though all Taekwoon could do was grit his teeth; but then he saw his chance coming. His nephew, his brilliant, dependable, clever nephew decided that it would be HIS job to bring Uncle Taekwoon out to meet his new friend. 

Taekwoon didn’t pause to question how it was possible for the man to have gotten into his apartment. He didn’t think for a second about the fact that they were on the eighth floor or that his security system hadn’t gone off or that it was highly unlikely that the guy had managed to pick the lock for the front door in the first place, because as soon as Minyul was pushing open the door to the laundry room, Taekwoon was slamming it shut. He saw the startled expression on Minyul’s face before the tears began, the loud noise most likely setting him off, but his uncle could do little to soothe the confused child because he had shut the door behind him after slipping through the opening Minyul had made when seeking out his uncle. Taekwoon must have looked like some sort of madman with the bat in hand. No doubt he would be foaming at the mouth as soon as he located the stranger whom had the audacity to barge into his home and corner his poor flesh- and- blood kin. Rapid eye movements sought out the figure Taekwoon had seen as the football player beat the polished wood of the bat against the palm of his hand. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes, but all Taekwoon was aware of was the rage induced red hue that decorated his surroundings. It was wherever he looked, but still there was no sign of the stranger. There was no way in Hell he was stepping away from the door, though. Not when Minyul was inside, sniffing and beating weakly on the door with his tiny hands. 

“Ta! Scary in here!” That did capture Taekwoon’s attention, though, and while he raised the bat in a pointed gesture, he was beginning to calm down.

“It’s alright, kiddo. Ta’s going to get the bad man.”

“Not bad, Ta! He knows magic tricks!” Oh, so that’s how Minyul had trusted the guy so easily. Not for the first time, Taekwoon’s teeth made an odd sound as they scraped together when his jaw clenched. What kind of sick bastard was he dealing with here? 

When there was no movement for another moment, Taekwoon opted for leaning against the laundry room door. His cell phone should still be in there, and in his alarmed state he had completely forgotten it. Now that his head was clearer and it was becoming apparent that the guy had taken off, Taekwoon thought it was probably a better plan to call the police and wait them out in the room with his nephew.

The minutes began to tick by until Taekwoon eventually, painstakingly, edged the door open, casting furtive glances over his shoulder in case the freak from before decided to make another grand appearance and thought to take Taekwoon by surprise. No such scenario played out, though, and when the Korean man was finally in full view to his nephew, Minyul threw himself around one large leg and adamantly refused to let go, clinging desperately at Taekwoon’s calf with his sharp nails digging into the material of his uncle’s jeans. With some maneuvering, Taekwoon was able to get them both inside the room, barricading the door with the dressing table that he kept the laundry things on top of and where he had left his phone.

Slowly, so as not to alarm the poor kid more than he already had, Taekwoon pried Minyul from his leg, bringing him into his uncle’s protective embrace for both of their sake.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Ta didn’t mean to do that,” he was murmuring into the little boy’s hair from where his nephew had stuck his head under Taekwoon’s chin. He slid down onto the floor, cradling Minyul in his arms even while he dialed the number for the local police service, waited with baited breath until the uniformed officers arrived to ensnare the two of them in the security that the authorities provided, and only then did he release the bat.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯ 

 

“No sign of forced entry. No tampering with locks, all windows with ledges outside of them properly closed and locked as well. No video evidence to prove that any man at all other than yourself or another resident wandered down your hallway the day of the alleged home invasion.”

It was two weeks later, and Taekwoon was back at the police station to go over his statement. It seemed that, while the officers believed that something occurred for Taekwoon to have made the call, there was trouble putting all of the pieces together. The woman in uniform questioning him let out a sigh.

“We are at a loss, Mr. Jung. Your nephew and yourself gave the exact same description of the man you said you saw, but there seems to be no evidence that concludes this to be true. No person in your building exactly matches what you have told us, and the time stamp on the hallway video proves that there was no tampering with the recording. This alarms us. If there IS a predator wandering around that part of the city, a part where there are many families, we must be able to provide evidence of the case before issuing any sort of alert. You understand this?”

Taekwoon nods, mute. He also understood that Minyul was going to a sleepover that night and it would be the first time since the incident that he would be spending such a prolonged amount of time away from his nephew. The thought was churning his stomach unpleasantly, and his expression had been sour for most of the day. 

“You are also certain that you have never seen the man before?” Taekwoon nods again. The woman nods back at him. Taekwoon nods again. He really, really wanted to leave. 

“Then there are no further questions that I have for you,” the officer concludes, standing and waiting for Taekwoon to do the same before gesturing for the football player to follow her slighter form out of the room. Taekwoon was glad. It had been stuffy in there, the four walls seeming to close in on him, even though he was by no means claustrophobic, and the mirror that he knew was truly a two- way mirror was so overbearing that he could hardly bring himself to look at the thing even though it was right behind the woman who had sat across from him. He wondered who else was watching their discussion, and if Taekwoon had subconsciously scowled at the mirror a few times, he would never admit to it. Taekwoon did still remember his manners, though, bowing politely to the officer as she let him be to track down Minyul in the children’s room. 

The kid bounced to attention once his uncle called his name and Taekwoon reached for his nephew’s hand as soon as he was within proper holding distance. Apparently Minyul had basically forgotten what had happened and Taekwoon was happy to see that it didn’t impair his rambunctious personality. Of course, Taekwoon was sure the boy had told his schoolmates all about the strange friend he met at home the day he was allowed to go back to school, but he didn’t think too much about that. Taekwoon just made extra sure that all the locks were in order and that the bat was safely tucked away should he ever need to actually use it. 

They were in Taekwoon’s car, Minyul safely in his car seat and staring out the window before he spoke again.

“Ta, excited.” 

“You’re excited? For tonight?” Minyul nods; Taekwoon sees it in the rear view mirror. He was kicking his short legs out and just barely missing the back of the passenger side seat with every extension of his legs, but Taekwoon didn’t have the heart to chastise him. 

“Do you want to pack Dog?” Dog was the aptly named retriever plush Minyul had gotten for his fourth birthday from Taekwoon’s eldest sister. Supposedly it was for some popular internet game and came with a code so that Minyul could play online, but he had been more interested in the soft fur than the interactive pet world and usually cuddled it to bed at night.

“I’ll make sure you have it then. And you know that if you want to come home, you can call me. No matter what time it is, I’ll come and get you. Especially if you’re scared.”

“I won’t get scared! I’m not scared of anything!” Is the indignant reply and Taekwoon laughs heartily.

“I know,” he confirms, but Taekwoon couldn’t say the same for himself.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯ 

 

There’s screaming. Three, four, five kids in unison screaming at the tops of their lungs and Taekwoon is about to let his nephew join in on the madness. The look that Yugyeom’s mother gives him is withering and the football player barely keeps Minyul’s attention long enough to get a quick kiss on the cheek before the child is running off to join in on what can only be identified as a yelling match, with the winner of the match being deemed king. What was today’s youth coming to? He almost wanted to offer some sort of retribution to the mother that greeted him at the door, but when he tried to speak there was no sound. He simply stood there, gazing past her shoulder into the mess of the home before silently placing Minyul’s overnight bag just inside the door and bowing profusely before backing away from the situation, his voice barely comprehensible as he mouthed his thanks for watching Minyul that night. When Taekwoon sees Chaewon’s nod -that was her name. She was Yugyeom’s mother, Taekwoon remembered now- he knows he’s in the clear and Taekwoon reminds himself to never buy a place big enough to house a bustling party of rugrats. 

But Taekwoon knows now that Minyul will be alright, and that sets whatever tension had been causing his ill mood at ease. He had practice to worry about the next day anyway, and this night would be good to get himself back into the player mindset. There were nationals coming up soon, and that meant preliminaries were already underway and teams were being assigned their spots according to the past year’s rankings. His team had done well, but fourth was not enough to promise them a spot in the finals, which meant that they were due for the single elimination rounds. After that came the double elimination, meaning that the top five teams to progress to the finals were set to compete against at least three teams before their rankings were set for that year. Taekwoon had a lot to think about, was what it meant, and his drive home was relatively quiet save for the new formation sequences he was making up as he went.

Parking was quiet too, and he had to stop himself from getting out of the car and opening the back door to let Minyul out. The act took him aback for the moment as there had really never been a night that he had to himself since the boy moved in (not that he was complaining). It struck Taekwoon that his apartment would be quiet again, and his feet dragged all the way to the flight of stairs that would lead him up, up, up to the lonely place waiting for him. His stomach rumbles and his pace quickens. Maybe if he filled the apartment with the sounds of cooking food, he would have some incentive to enjoy his alone time. 

There are few people milling around the building even though it was not particularly late. Then again, work nights tended to be the prime nights to go out with coworkers, and this complex was not one intended for that sort of use considering excessive noise after 8 was frowned upon. It just meant that there was nothing to distract Taekwoon, and if he nearly fell asleep when he finally made it inside the elevator, then it was only to be expected. Thankfully, the abhorrent ping of the bell signalling his stop pulled him from his drowsing, and through heavily lidded eyes, the football player stumbles to his suite and inputs the code that will let him inside. The numbers on the buttons blur together for a long moment, and he wonders when he had gotten so tired. Most likely stress, Taekwoon reasoned to himself, pushing the door open and pulling the deadlock over behind him- it was too high for Minyul to reach if anyone did try to coerce the child into opening the door. 

Taekwoon steps inside, shrugging off his light sweater and kicking his shoes to the side of the door before moving to the small closet just off the entryway of his home- but he only takes a step in that direction before he pauses. Because if Taekwoon was being certain, he was sure he had seen a body flit from one side of the archway leading into the kitchen to the other in a wisp of activity. And if Taekwoon was a rational person, he might get his phone out just in case he needed to contact and emergency service. But Taekwoon wasn't always rational, and if he wasn't experience any form of psychosis then it must be true that there was someone in his apartment. Again. Without his permission.  
Treading on silent feet, the athlete slinks to the archway, taking a deep breath of gusto before tentatively peering inside the room. 

But there's nothing to see. Everything was exactly as he had left it, not even a dish towel out of place, and there's a quizzical furling of Taekwoon’s eyebrows as he moves inside the kitchen. It's possible the intruder was moving through the house, but a fast inspection of each of the rooms had Taekwoon fumbling. He was certain he wasn't imagining things, but maybe he was more fatigued than he previously thought, and his growling stomach once again alerted him to the fact that he was famished as well as emotionally exhausted. 

Taekwoon first trudges into the washroom to splash some cold water on his face, the somewhat gaunt and angular face that stared back at him seeming forlorn. The fingers that run across the expanse of flesh at the nape of his neck are prickled, indicating that it would soon be time for a shave again. Later, though. Later.  
Begrudgingly, because he still didn’t want to believe that he was suffering from any sort of paranoia, Taekwoon steps through the hallways of his apartment, weaving his way back into the kitchen. And then he freezes.

“There you are! You must be Uncle Ta!” Exclaims the blond man sitting at Taekwoon’s dining table.

Taekwoon really wishes he’d brought the bat with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup, lads. This was a bit later because it was a bit longer and I have assignments that are taking priority over this. Anyways, y'all know to himme up on tumblr for stuff. Hope you enjoy!


	3. Virtuoso

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asparas uses Stun! It's incredibly effective.

There's a silvery-green sheen of light that seems to envelop the man lounging on Taekwoon’s furniture, and he blinks once -twice- to reassure himself that it was not a figment of his imagination. If he squints hard, really hard, it almost seems as though there is a glittering substance present within the sheen, falling like an iridescent curtain over the strange man’s head and down to the bare feet, crossed at the ankle, settled on the white tile floor. His white tile floor. The white tile floor that was the base of HIS kitchen where he ATE. 

Taekwoon was still frozen in place, stuck in time as the other man stretches his arms over his head, apparently completely content to lounge in this position all night if need be, and Taekwoon bristled at that. Still, he couldn’t quite ignore the shiver that was running up his spine at the sight of the man, because -while he was certain they had never met before- there was an air of familiarity about him

(Oh, so you’re who I’ve been waiting for?)

He's just going to ignore that strange, otherworldly voice that popped into his head, thank you very much. Instead, what Taekwoon is going to do is he's going to grab the iron skillet on top of his stove and he's going to get some answers. As soon as he can move. 

“Oh, right, Oopsy Daisies, you're stuck there until I explain the deal!” Comes the (throaty, rhythmic) insufferable voice of the man in the chair. “Frozen in time until you accept your fate,” he continues to drawl and the soft screeching of the chair’s protest as it is slowly pushed back, bottoms of its legs scraping against the floor, echoes through the tiny room. When the man stands, Taekwoon is disgruntled to find that the pair are nearly identical in height, meaning his above average stature wouldn't be aiding him this time around. That was just fine, though, because he was broader than this stranger from years spent training his body to reach the edge of its endurance and then some. But, he still wasn't able to move. He was trying to will his frame forward, and when that proved futile, his attempts became desperate enough that all Taekwoon wanted to be able to do was twitch his fingers. 

All efforts were in vain, as it were. This man seemed to be telling Taekwoon the truth, and the only logical explanation for the phenomenon was that Taekwoon had been drugged. It most likely occurred when he had been searching the home earlier, his mind too preoccupied to notice any odd remnants of ill-meaning dust or liquid splashed along his walls. Or maybe it was the tap water in the sink he had rinsed his face in. That had to be it. Water, the original source for human vitality and the very basis of life as he knew it would be the thing that finally did Taekwoon in. Just the thought was enough to send him seething- if he had the ability to seethe, that was. Which he did not. Because it was as if someone had set a literal pause on him, feet as lead weighing him down to the floor but his body in a state of utter weightlessness. He might say this is what floating felt like if he was paying more attention to the unnatural sensation overtaking him and not on the long piece of yellowing parchment the other man seemed to have conjured from thin air which was now slowing unfurling to reveal bold, black lettering, cursive and slanting and looking very incredibly ancient. Like a prop from a bad history movie.  
Taekwoon felt like he was in a bad history movie.

The man clears his throat and Taekwoon’s eyes, surprisingly not dry, set to attention once again.

“Yadda, yadda, yadda, introduction to why I’m here, but you should know that already, blah blah blah, HERE WE GO.” A slender finger with nails unkempt and cracking at the edges, though not dirtied, rests pointedly on a section of text that Taekwoon can hardly see and definitely cannot decipher. “When the _giall_ -that’s you- has committed an act of utter sanctity while not under dis-repose influence, shall be granted, for indefinite longevity, an _Asparas_ of one of the following sects to be decided by the council of sects immediately following the act and with due haste so long as no unearthly entity deem is inefficient;  
i) _Sylia_ , for acts of the kindred spirit  
ii) _Iallea_ , for acts of the wandering flesh  
iii) _Diamae_ , for acts in relation to salvation  
iv) _Rutia_ , for acts that the _Oke’trall_ will  
v) _Nullea_ , for acts inconceivable by no other means than Thaumaturgy or Mysticism  
vi) _Atua_ , to grant safe passage into _wosh_ regions.”

Taekwoon is at a complete loss, the words tumbling from the man’s mouth being a language he couldn’t interpret. He was catching some Korean words jumbled in with a lot of jargon and then something that sounded almost Celtic. He would very much like for this man to leave.

The man only whistles through his teeth, smiling brightly up at Taekwoon. His eyes crinkle at the edges and Taekwoon tries not to think about how nice it looks because this was not the right time to be ogling.

“You really did something pretty nice to have me assigned to you!” The stranger sing-songs, seeming extremely pleased with himself. “I’m from the _Diamae_ sect, but your case could have been between the _Diamae_ or the _Sylia_ sects which is why it took a lot longer for me to finally get to you. They said something about a kid and a cliff, but that’s really all I heard before I got too curious and decided to just come and see you even if the entire meeting hadn’t exactly adjourned, but you wouldn’t even give the courtesy of greeting me! You just locked that cute little kid up in that room and then came out with a bat! That wasn’t a very nice thing to do at all, you know. Especially since I’m basically going to be living with you from now on and all that.”

Was this some kind of a fever dream? It had to be. Any moment, Taekwoon would be waking up after being shaken to consciousness abruptly by his nephew who would be chastising Taekwoon for not waking up early enough to take him to school on time and Taekwoon would eventually forget all about this crazy situation playing out as he blissfully went out the rest of his life in comfortable repetition. He might be able to recall the dream when he woke up, but it would soon fade away until the remnants were nothing but forgotten glimpses into a world belonging to his imagination. If Taekwoon could move, he would pinch himself.

He still couldn’t move though, and that was really starting to get to him.

“Aye, we might not have gotten off on the right note, but I’m sure we’ll be able to get along just fine once this is all cleared up. Anyway, you have to accept the acquirement of _Asparas (1) amae_ before we can get the rest of the details sorted out. It’s also kind of mandatory for you because if you don’t accept then it’s going to make a lot of really powerful people preeeeettyyy pissed,” rambled the man in his rapid-fire manner of speech. Taekwoon could hardly keep up, still reeling, but it seemed that it was unnecessary for him to be aware of the goings on because some otherworldly force was tipping his head forward and then back. A nod. He had just accepted whatever the Hell was being given to him.

The man claps his hands together, overjoyed, before snapping his fingers and the action unbinds Taekwoon from whatever chains were keeping him in place. He has to test out his newfound freedom by first curling his wrists and clenching his fists to ensure that his blood was in proper circulation throughout his body. It was, and Taekwoon geared himself to give out a punch that would have the other man sprawled on the floor in seconds, but then-

_"A'plyae mae. A'llemenia mae Kalan_. But you can call me Jaehwan while we’re here. It’ll make me fit in better,” there was a hand being extended in Taekwoon’s direction, one with long and slender fingers adorned by patterned wooden rings and interwoven with what he could only assume to be moss and petals. The look that he was being given was one of (adoration?) fondness by the man- Jaehwan- and Taekwoon thought that maybe this wouldn’t be the best time considering that if he didn’t try to figure out what had just happened, he might me “pissing off a lot of really powerful people” and that didn’t sound good at all if they were anything like the guy that kept magically appearing in his home. Taekwoon takes the man’s hand and tentatively shakes it.

Now that he’s stepped closer, the football player can see that there are intricate lines running up the stranger’s flesh, dancing, even as he stood still, over the skin like veins but a milky hue in colour. So very strange. Taekwoon can also see the violet bags under brown eyes (or were they green?) indicating that this man was tired even through the cheerful facade that was being put on. If Taekwoon didn’t know better, he might say that the cheeriness was an act. But, what really struck him was the blond locks set atop the man’s head. They were so yellow in shade that Taekwoon was reminded of sunflowers, and at first he thought it might be dyed that way were it not for the consistent colour. He had had his own hair dyed once, and he knew that there were some things that artificial colour could not achieve. 

“Why are you here?” He manages to ask without stuttering, his eyes now drawn to the slightly sunken cheeks that sit atop a prominent jawline. 

Jaehwan’s smile falters for a moment before he releases Taekwoon from the embrace and squares his shoulders before quickly dropping into a bow at the waist. He’s back up so fast that Taekwoon thought he would have missed the action if he had blinked and surely Jaehwan’s head would be swimming from the disturbance to his equilibrium? But, there seems to be no such inhibition, and Jaehwan’s voice sounds without any hesitation.

“I’m your personal angel! Well, not angel. I’m an asparas, but they basically sound the same, so does it really matter?” Taekwoon thought that, yes, it did really matter. “And the reason I’m here is because you committed an act that was out of selflessness for that boy down at the… Where was it? Some marine place? I think that’s what it was. I wasn’t really paying attention, I just went where they sent me to go, and that was here!” Damn, this guy looked really proud of himself. 

“But…” Taekwoon just thought he had done what any other normal person with a moral compass would have done. Besides, it had been an accident; it wasn’t like he willingly went out of his way to save the kid, he was just the one who happened to be standing there when it happened. It just seemed way to circumstantial for any of this to be substantial. 

It was like Jaehwan could read his mind, because the asparas was clasping his hands behind his back and looking humbled, and his voice was lowering to a much quieter tone as he spoke. 

“Really, I’m only supposed to be bestowing good fortune upon you right now because what you did wasn’t, what do you call it? Totally heroic? But, it was still a really good thing to do, and everyone at the council has to think about that before they send one of us over here to be around the humans and stuff.”

 

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

“Just think about it like you have your very own personal lucky charm now.”

Taekwoon didn’t really believe in luck. It was hard work and perseverance that had gotten him to where he was, so what did he need this for? Slowly, he makes a grab for one of the chairs at the table, slinking into the cushion-covered wooden seat and resting his chin in his hands as he tried to mull over the new information. He could be crazy. This could be a fever- dream from some bad food he had eaten earlier in the day, because if you asked him, that tteokbeokki from the street vendor in town earlier had tasted a bit off to him. He could also be trying to fill the void of loneliness that was in his heart whenever Minyul wasn’t around, but even that couldn’t really explain what was going on because he should only be experiencing this phenomena when his nephew wasn’t around, and he had heard Jaehwan’s voice in the past when he thought there was an intruder. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” he can hear said voice saying, and a pair of bare feet appear in Taekwoon’s peripheral vision underneath the shadow of his fingers. When he looks up, he can see an impish grin. “There’s no way that this could be real, right? I come in here claiming to be some sort of FaeFolk and making you sign some agreement that says I’m going to be here a while? It does sound pretty freaky, but I promise, you’ll barely know I’m here! I can even babysit! Kids love me. Check this out!”

 

And before Taekwoon can protest, Jaehwan is lifting his hands. In one of his hands, his fingers furl toward his palm but the other hand acts as a stabilizer underneath it in a completely flat position. Jaehwan takes a long breath, focusing intently on one spot just beyond the point of Taekwoon’s shoulder, and then his eyes glaze over as if he is staring into nothingness. Taekwoon waits for something to happen. He waits a minute. And then two. But, then he realizes that there is no motion to Jaehwan’s shoulders that would indicate an intake of breath. The football player wonders if Jaehwan is frozen just like he was and if this would be a good time to try and maneuver the body out of the home while he could, but then he sees it. 

The foggy mist begins to collect around the man’s mouth, and Taekwoon watches in horror, sinking into the back of the seat, as the mist clouds just before Jaehwan’s head, morphing in shape like something alive and twisting in the air as though writhing in agony. The same shimmering sheen is present through the mist and it glitters in the air until something… Twinkles? There is something most definitely twinkling in the center of the vapor and disturbing the area around it as it grows in size and brightness. Taekwoon can barely see Jaehwan’s face through the smoggy substance because it is darkening to a deep purple even as the orb becomes brighter and brighter. 

Taekwoon finally has to shield is eyes, but when the light dims and he can turn to see what has become of the bizarre scene, the Fae is half- enclosing a sparkling purple tourmaline in his hand and grinning an illustrious grin. The space around him should be empty, but lilac flecks glint in coruscation in the air, teasing and enveloping the asparas in a nebula of placidity.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

Taekwoon hadn’t realized his jaw dropped.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

**Excerpt From The Third Work of Han Gyeon (1625)**

_To be understood as a translation into modern speak of the 20th century. Translation as approved by professors Choi Yongmin and Kim Soyee of Korea University’s Linguistics Department and the International Circle of Korean Linguistics._

Good Fortune bestow the group of Seven, for seven be one of the most magykal of the numbers; no doubt to be reasoned by those we were seeking that these seven were only of the most capable of men to make this journey. For, even though the legs we were to trudge on ached with a fury and e’en if our feet be waterlogged and mud- soaked, we seven did not falter in our task of bestowing the water upon the grounds of the land. Our entry to the place of wonder be granted only from our prowess, and only when granted access through the iridescent gloss that separates the holier world from that of Mankind did we allow for rest. I fear that the first few moments we spent were to set at ease our tired bodies and souls and to mourn for the loss of the good fellows we did leave behind, but we would soon to be reunited; for their Sakes rather than ours.  
Only by following the streams, the gurgle of the brooks and distant roar of rushing water, were we to come upon this place, nestled in the hills and secret from most but those who know the path to trudge. Here, the spectrum is like nothing that can be sought in the realm of Man, in a place where even the air dances with a mingling of vibrant hue and our guide partakes of the scenery with a satisfaction us seven have come to know, for surely this place will leave us with such longing once our presence had become unwanted.  
Soon as we are relinquished from this place, it would haunt our hearts until our very last breaths, but we were not to know that until the years of despairing were set upon.  
In that instant, the brief period of time that passed between myself gathering my strength before taking in the fictitious around me, we would be surrounded. Not a menacing demeanor, nor one of manic, ominous threat, but one that had three of our group whispering in hushed murmurs to themselves. Their eyes would flicker about, though in fascination or fright it cannot be known; all that is for certain is that we were under a watchful gaze while amongst the whimsicality of the unknown, and so would the piercing gazes remain on our backs until we set off once again in search of the meeting place.  
“Be sure to bring another,” our guide suggested from his place to the stream nearest to us, because water seemed to flow in wavering and winding currents up the hills, cupping his hands in demonstration to us as he fills his palms of the clear liquids of the realm. We were all to follow suit, not to forget ourselves in bewilderment and there were only a few who needed to scramble.  
The way that we were to go was one flanked on both sides by trees whose branches were heavy with ripening fruit or flowering blossoms even while the floor of this forest, for surely this was still woodland although the thicket was that of pinks and oranges whose bark was littered with fluttering insects. The overhang of twigs offered cool shade against the beating sun, cooling the grass and moss of the woods. There were flowing tides here as well, following the path and intersecting at times, but never crossing over the areas of shade we were subject to. It was something akin to an arch, harmonious. A being of less caliber may seek to lay a hand upon the efflorescence as if in a lovers’ caress, but we were of good and clever men and we followed our guide staunchly so as to ne’er lose sight of the trail we were to take. Even if we were welcomed here now, the men were of unspoken agreement that wandering was only in a Fool’s agenda.  
Every so often, a shadow would cross the peripheral of my vision, flitting from sapling to timber but never back, always following. I would never turn my head to meet the kindred spirit; it would have been unwise. Instead, when the sun must have reached high noon, our guide instructs us to sit. The wind began to still around us, no longer buffering against the cloth of our cloaks nor whispering through the trees in its song, and so we sat side- by- side on the trail, the length of us spanning just the necessary amount. We would wait until They were to greet us. We would offer our gift to them, one of tenacity and fearlessness and diligence, and then the meeting would commence. Out of the corner of my eye, I remember the shadow sitting down on par with us as well. Faintly, _falco naumanni_ calls. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“How did you do that?” The football player blurts out once he’s found his voice, the pounding of his heart thundering in his ears. There was no possible way that no trickery was involved. Jaehwan was an illusionist, most likely, and had probably set up lights around the apartment to make the elaborate scheme seem like magic. This was the only possible explanation that Taekwoon could think of, because he was a very logical man and nothing that was happening was happening with any practicality. That, or he was losing his mind. 

“See? That’s why kids like me! Even Minyul liked it, and I only did some small stuff.” Without a care, Jaehwan tosses the gem behind him and it clatters against the floor before resting still with a final deep thud where it would stay nestled in the carpet of a rug. Taekwoon followed the action with his eyes, but could hardly process it.

Jaehwan was suddenly very close, and Taekwoon visibly startled in his chair. He didn’t like the way that this man could move like that, soundlessly and so quickly that it was unnerving. Jaehwan’s eyes were quite large as they stared reproachfully into Taekwoon’s own, his arms descending so that the Fae’s hands could grip at the arms of the chair on either side of Taekwoon’s lax body. He was leaning in so close that Taekwoon thought he could scent the faint smell of salty sea water rolling off of him, and that did nothing more than pique his curiosity and send his stomach into a flurry of action. All at once, he felt exhausted and sick, and Taekwoon’s eyes fluttered closed at the wave of nausea that was slowly overtaking him. This didn’t seem to disturb Jaehwan, nor did the faint groan of displeasure that sounded from the Korean man sitting in the chair. Instead, he leaned closer, the aroma growing in strength until Taekwoon was certain that he was standing seaside. If he tried to focus on the darkness behind his eyes and escape into that solitude, images of flotsam and jetsam infested his thoughts until he was certain that he was floating among the waves of the ocean. His palms felt sticky and clammy at his sides before they clutched at the cushion beneath him in an attempt to return to reality, but he could have been a man drowning for all that Taekwoon could do to save himself.

As quickly as the phenomenon started, it ceased. Taekwoon drew in a long gulp of air to steady himself and grasp back into the world that should be around him. He was in his kitchen. He was sitting down. And Jaehwan was still much too close. 

“I don’t just do party tricks,” the asparas hums in a condescending tone while something dangerous lurks in the flash of his eyes. It dawns on Taekwoon immediately that Jaehwan had been the cause of the overpowering experience, and that revelation was enough to have him scared. Taekwoon was frightened that this monstrosity of a creature was in his home, and he was frightened that this being was now wont to be around him. The goosebumps erupting on the flesh of his legs, arms and stomach were a clear indication of his emotion. Still, the level stare kept Taekwoon locked in place until the most that he could do was breathe and keep eye contact and pray to whatever deity had cursed him that they would relinquish the contract he was a part of and give him back the previous life that now felt so far away. ( It was funny how time worked like that. Just a few hours earlier, Taekwoon was hoping for some company, and here it was, but not in the way that he expected it. )

Jaehwan pulls away after another moment, the silence broken by a chuckle and then it’s as though a switch has been flicked because the asparas is turning on his heel with arms extended toward the ceiling of the apartment in a show of sheer joy. After a short stretch, Jaehwan lifts himself up onto the counter of the kitchen under which a set of cupboard sit, swinging his bare feet out toward Taekwoon at the table. Taekwoon wasn’t a religious man, but if the Devil were real, surely He was in his home in that instant.

“I don’t usually take up this much space, so this is kind of weird to me. Plus, this human body just feels so… Long? No, that’s not the word. Lanky. It feels lanky,” Jaehwan almost pouts, his bottom lip curling out just slightly in a way that should be endearing but that Taekwoon could only think of as being heinous. “And the beds here are so weird! How can you sleep on something like that? The pillows here aren’t even stuffed with feathers like they should be. That’s what they told us, you know. That the human world was full of all these weird things and that you guys use animals for clothes and stuff.”

Jaehwan must really like the sound of his own voice is the conclusion that Taekwoon is drawing, and the football player begins to ascend from his place of refuge to tentatively move back a hairsbreadth towards the doorway leading out into the hallway. 

“You could stay somewhere else?” He suggests in a small voice and then immediately internally chastises himself. Taekwoon’s may have a naturally quiet way of speech, but it wasn’t going to be of use now when he should be authoritative enough to buy time to think of a means to escape. It was that, or somehow undo the deal he was coerced into, because he was going to be taking anything that Jaehwan told him previously into careful consideration. 

“Oh, no, no. I… I can’t really. Once one of us FaeFolk are tied to a human, we’re basically bonded. It means I should probably masquerade as your bodyguard or something. Oooh! That would be cool! You could act like you made a mafia boss really angry and that you had to hire protection just like in those movies!” Jaehwan suggests, elated at the idea and Taekwoon didn’t pause to wonder how the asparas even knew what the mafia was if he didn’t even know that pillows were rarely stuffed with feathers anymore. Another thought does strike him, though.

“You said… That they told you what here was like,” he starts, not wanting to picture who ‘they’ were, “does that mean you haven’t been here before?”

“Nope!” Jaehwan shakes his head, crossing his arms in an x over his chest. “Not even once until I got assigned to you. It’s really weird here. You humans don’t even have the _nocturna lumos_ , and that was my favourite part of back home. I mean, you can still see the stars and stuff - I sort of spent the last few nights on a few roofs here- but it really isn’t all that spectacular.”

“Then why send you here in the first place if your home is so much better?” Taekwoon snaps with some regret. He was finding it a struggle just to stand now when his body was weighing itself down so heavily from tiredness. 

“Because, it’s our duty to serve the good.” The vague explanation sounds like one that would be given to a child, as if Taekwoon couldn’t understand the full situation so there was no point in telling him. That was irritating, and Taekwoon grinds his teeth together. Briefly, his gaze locks on the bright green numbers of the timer on the microwave set against the wall beside Jaehwan’s head and is unhappy to note that it’s nearing midnight. 

“Where do you plan on staying tonight, then?” He resigns himself to asking the man lounging on his counter-top. Jaehwan’s head cocks to the side, lips pursing before he shrugs his shoulders and hops down from his position to land on his feet with all of the grace of an Olympic diver. 

“I don’t really wanna sleep tonight. Have you got any movies?” 

Taekwoon’s eye twitches but he nods. 

“Oh, good, ‘cause I don’t really like it when it gets really dark, so I can just stay in that room with the Big Screen and watch some of those until you wake up. You have those funny ones, right?”

“Comedies?” The only comedies Taekwoon owned were animated because of his nephew and even he could barely get through one of them without feeling as though his brain were leaking through his ears from the sheer stupidity of the absurd storylines. ( He had no desire to find out how a talking, dancing pickle was making his way through life in a cucumber world was all he was getting at. )

Jaehwan only smiles widely at that, and the sight is enough to make Taekwoon’s jaw ache. How could a person’s mouth stretch so obscenely? And in such a square shape? But Taekwoon doesn’t have any more time to mull it over because Jaehwan is moving in his lightning fast way again and tugging on the long sleeve of the shirt the football player is wearing to pull him into the living room that housed the television Jaehwan fondly called the Big Screen. There was no way that Taekwoon was going to be getting away from him, it seemed. 

“You’re not going to stay and watch one with me?” Comes the inquiry from the man who had set himself up on Taekwoon’s couch, tucked inside a blanket that Taekwoon was uncertain of where he had procured it from, while Minyul’s uncle abandoned all hope and began to set up the proper configuration for DVDs on the television.

He shakes his head, bending down to insert a disk into the drive before pressing play on the controller in his hand and gearing himself for the loud burst of song that would soon bellow from the speakers. He sets a volume he hopes that his neighbours won’t mind and leaves the remote on the small wooden table in the center of the room. If Jaehwan wanted to use it, he could figure it out himself, Taekwoon reasoned. 

“When this one stops just click on the ‘Eject’ button and the disk will come out, then you can put in a different one,” Taekwoon explains to the dejected man on his couch. He doesn’t spare Jaehwan another glance until his legs guide him through the archway that will lead him to the hall. That’s when he hears the faint call. 

“What?” He turns in exasperation, rubbing at one of his eyes to attempt to relieve himself of a little bit of the drowsiness screaming at him to sleep. 

“Allo’nae. Goodnight,” Jaehwan’s voice sounds in muffled manner from the cocoon of blankets, and Taekwoon can see in the dim light from the television that the Fae had angled himself towards the door to watch as Taekwoon left.

“Oh. Goodnight,” he replies, and that seems to satisfy Jaehwan because his gaze returns to the screen and Taekwoon hears no more from him for the rest of the night.

It’s only when Taekwoon is tucked into his own bed with the blankets pulled over his head and the low din of the television can be heard even through the thick padding of his door that he thinks the familiarity in Jaehwan’s face could be placed. His clothes didn’t give him away, because even Taekwoon had noticed that, save for his lack of shoes, the Fae had been dressed, well, human-like. He had been wearing black denim jeans, for Pete’s sake. No, it had to be something else.

His active mind plagued him until somewhere an hour or so later, when Taekwoon was in the glorious and tranquil state between sleep and wake, he placed Jaehwan’s face. It was the one he thought he had seen etched into the trees in Hallyeohaesang National Park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no post, very sorry, but ya girl all done her assignments which means more time for writing! Anyway, if you have questions and/ or you wanna talk plz send them to me @lizardshik on tumblr. Also, comments and criticisms fuel my soul.


	4. Psionic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon gets mad at Jaehwan, then Jaehwan gets mad at Taekwoon, and Minyul just wants to eat oranges.

The deafening, steady beep of an alarm rouses Taekwoon from his slumber. At the edges of his remembrance, some scattered dreams attempt to linger, but just as he tries to grasp for them, they fade away to nothing and he is only left disoriented. Taekwoon, in a groggy manner, slams his finger down on the button that will aide him in his time of need to silence the alarm, sleep- fogged brain only registering the time because of an innate parental instinct screaming at him to come to his senses. It wouldn't be time to pick up Minyul for a couple of hours, but when Taekwoon’s body shifted, he was able to see the yellow glow of the sun straining to penetrate into his bedroom through the thick blinds concealing him from the outside. It was so warm and welcoming in his small nest of cotton and fleece that he was finding leaving the cocoon to be a difficult task. That was, until the strained hum of his television streams through his door to rouse him from his comfort.

With some trepidation, the football player’s bare foot thuds against the cold hardwood of his floor. When had he changed into his pajamas? Late the night before most likely, if he couldn’t recall. He attempts to thwart a yawn before it can escape, but Taekwoon’s efforts are futile and the bodily reaction overpowers him so that he nearly falls back into bed. He decides that attempting to sit up right away was a bad idea, but since he was at this point, he may as well just go along with the usual morning routine he consistently subjected his body to. He could worry about the… Creature… In the next room in a couple of minutes, hopefully after he had washed and there was some caffeine in his body. 

There’s a satisfying crack that follows a long, slow stretch of his arms over his head, and Taekwoon’s limbs feel much looser. In actuality, he concludes that he may have had the most satisfying sleep the past night than he’d had in the previous few years. Odd considering the circumstances that would now surround his daily life, but sleep- deprived athletes couldn’t be choosers, he supposed and so he swings his legs out from where they’re hanging over the edge of the bed and heaves himself back up into a less compromising position. With eyes that still droop, Taekwoon’s body moves in autopilot, going through the same motions ingrained into his muscles from years of identical routine broken only by solitary sick days. An itching sensation from his stomach, so long fingers delve underneath the hem of his shirt to scratch at the sensitive skin even as his other palm attempts to rub the sleep from his eyes. 

Taekwoon eventually stumbles his way out of his room- his feet dragging somewhat- and out into the hallway that would lead into the only bathroom of the apartment suite. He would brush dangerously close to the living room housing the member of the FaeFolk, but it was a risk he was going to have to take. His bladder was begging him to be relieved, and the low rumble from his stomach was indication enough that breakfast was long overdue. If he cared to think properly, he might have remembered that he was lacking dinner from the night before because of a visit from a specific someone, but that wasn’t all too important because Taekwoon was attempting to push open the door to the washroom far enough to squeeze into the tiled space and go about his business. The task was proving difficult because, while he made sure to never close the doors in case Minyul decided he needed to get up in the middle of the night, there was a low creak that came from the hinge after the slab of wood was pushed past a certain point. It was something he had been meaning to get fixed but had somehow kept forgetting about, and was now proving to be more of a problem than its usual mild annoyance. 

Each inch gained of space from pushing the door was another inch closer to the inevitable noise, and Taekwoon began to subconsciously hold his breath in hopes that maybe, just maybe, Jaehwan wasn’t sure of his being awake yet. No doubt when the water in the shower began running, he would become aware of this fact, but at the very least the football player would be behind a locked door in relative safety and comfort. The door is finally ajar enough that Taekwoon can squeeze his lithe body through, but he’s not practical when nearly slamming the door behind him. It wasn’t his fault that he could sometimes be too forceful.

The washroom held the same atmosphere as the rest of Taekwoon’s home; on the smaller side, but containing all the essentials with the tub and shower combined set against the left wall, the toilet at the far side of the room just below the window but out of eyesight, and the sink just across from it. There were childish elements as well, like the rubber ducks and floating toys that Taekwoon tried to keep in the cupboards underneath the sink but were continuously, mysteriously left out for anyone not so familiar with them to trip over upon entering the washroom. Even most of the assortment of bottles of soap lining the side of the tub had a character face on them, beloved by many. Convenient towel racks beside the bed and sink made moving around the washroom easy, and Taekwoon thought he had done quite well with the place even if there was a level of disarray. For the most part, it was organized and clean, and that’s all that he really cared about. 

Taekwoon really wants to take his time right now, though, even if he isn’t revelling in the neatness of his bathroom this morning. As much as he loved his nephew, the kid had a knack for making a mess, as most kids did, he supposed. But, still, it was nice to have a break from chaos every once in awhile... scratch that thought. Taekwoon would have to make do with relative peace for the rest of his foreseeable future.

Taekwoon is often thankful that the spaces in his apartment are fairly small, because it meant that it only took a few short strides for him to reach his sink, and the sight he’s exposed to when he raises his head to stare into the rectangular vanity mirror set against the wall is not a sorry one. The common purple crescents present under his eyes most days are faded to a lilac hue, making him look younger than his twenty-five years, but not so much so to be mistaken for a teen like he used to be. A mane of dark bedhead frames his face, but at least it wasn’t tangled or matted. A quick shower should relieve him of any outer distress anyway. It was the inner duress he was worrying about; aches in places he didn’t know could ache. He dips his head again before turning around to relieve himself of the clothes he had come in with. It’s a struggle to pull the black cotton of his shirt over his head, but only for a second, and twice is the charm because soon the shirt is lying in a crumpled lump on the floor, ready to be stepped on accidentally. The rest of his sleep clothes soon follow suit, and the steam from running water cascading down to pitter- patter against the bottom of his tub fills the room comfortably, not stifling at all. In the following moments, after he’s carefully stepped over the linoleum ledge separating the inside of his bath from the rest of the room and when his face is upturned to the warm wash of clear spray, Taekwoon can breathe.

The ecstasy is short- lived, because there’s a crash from the room over that has him sighing up into the water, nearly sending a torrent down his throat from his nose. Grumbling under his breath, Taekwoon pulls the shower curtain aside after shutting the water off, entering into a realm of white mist that would be cleared by the whirring fan of the washroom in the following minutes, and wraps a towel around his waist. At least all he was worried about now was hunger, and that could be easily satiated on his way to get Minyul should his new roommate get to be too much of a hassle. Taekwoon could already feel a headache coming on. 

He had forgotten to bring an extra pair of clothes with him. Taekwoon was also forgetting about just how well he had slept with how unfortunate this morning was turning out to be and he has to sit himself crestfallen on the rim of the tub for a moment to collect his thoughts. On the one hand, he didn’t particularly want to get back into the clothes that he’d worn to bed because he wore them nearly every night and they were due for a wash. Besides, he wouldn’t want to get re-dressed after putting those clothes on. On the other, if he didn’t wear his pajamas, he would be running the risk of running into Jaehwan with only the plush material of the towel to keep him safe. At the same time, and this was a deviant thought if Taekwoon had any, if he did go out there with just a towel on, then Jaehwan might think he was a type of exhibitionist and may leave. Taekwoon might have been grasping at straws, but the more he thought about it, the more that his plan sought to be fit for action. The remainder of his dignity rises with him as he drags himself away from the tug, towel still snug and slung around his hips, and unlocks the door to the bathroom to look at was undoubtedly broken now. The hinge squeals loudly.

“I didn’t mean to!”

It was one of the things Taekwoon was expecting to hear, along with “oops” or “I can fix that”, but “I didn’t mean to” was chalking up to suiting Jaehwan just fine.

Said man was clutching a blanket around his body, sitting in the middle of Taekwoon’s living room with a decorative pillow at his side and a stack of Jenga blocks scattered around him. The football player could be grateful that they weren’t his nephew’s Legos, because he always caught his feet on some of those when cleaning them up and that really was not a fun experience. 

Jaehwan was barely looking at him, as though he were afraid of what Taekwoon would do to him. Taekwoon himself simply began by shrugging his shoulders and crossing his arms over his chest, settling the Strict Dad™ stare that he normally used on his nephew on the grown man cowering on the floor. 

“It’s alright, just clean it up, ok?” The soft plea comes out because Taekwoon was really not prepared to deal with this at all and his body was craving the Robusta beans nestled in their crook beside his coffee machine. The salivation in his mouth was a primary by-product of this, and Taekwoon’s hands settle on the towel covering him from waist to mid-thigh to ensure it wouldn’t fall while he retreated to his room to actually get dressed. He had promised to practice some drills with Jinsoo today, too, he reminded himself. In about forty minutes. That was barely enough time to digest if he hurried. This was not turning into his morning at all.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“I want to come!”  
“You’re not coming.”  
“But I want to.”  
“I said you’re not.”  
“C’mooooooooon. First you won’t even let me eat the syrup out of the cupboard and now I can’t come to see the kid? He’s the only nice one here! If I didn’t know better, I’d think you don't even deserve me being assigned to you.”

Jaehwan was huffing, his lips pursed in a pout better suited for a four year old boy throwing a tantrum or a sixteen year old girl trying to get her way but definitely not one that should be on the face of an adult male. With his hands drumming against the kitchen table while Taekwoon (finally) grabbed his full coffee cup, Jaehwan was making a right nuisance of himself. 

“You’re going to get him, right? That’s what you’re doing now? I even cleaned up all the stuff I messed up last night, so you can trust me!” Taekwoon didn’t want to know what other stuff Jaehwan was messing around with last night and he tried not to think about it for too long as he turned on his heel to put his foot down, so to speak.

“I’m going to practice. I’ll be back in two hours with Minyul. Do not-” and he emphasises that last word clearly- “ask me if you can come again.” Sure, he was being harsh. Technically, Jaehwan hadn’t done anything wrong except for pressing all the right buttons to drive Taekwoon nuts. Perhaps it was because Taekwoon was always the territorial sort and Jaehwan was intruding on his space, and now Taekwoon was going full- on guard dog.

The warning serves its purpose though, and Jaehwan doesn’t press the matter even though the tight set expression on his face would suggest otherwise. He’s in the same clothes as the night before, rumpled now and with visible lines in his shirt that gave him a disheveled appearance to go along with his mussed blond locks of hair. If this was going to be permanent, Taekwoon would have to get him something else to wear.

“You can grab something from my closet, even if it might not fit,” he resigns a bit, gesturing with the hand not holding his mug to the other’s attire. “I’m locking the door behind me, not expecting anyone, so don't open the door. None of the neighbours even know you’re here, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” He was mumbling to himself now, but he was making progress towards the door and soon his shoes are on, keys in hand, wallet in back pocket and Taekwoon was ready to go. Jaehwan still looks despondent, but he’s sitting up now, looking over at the other man with a glint in his eyes that Taekwoon was becoming too aware of. 

“And no Lego.”  
Then Taekwoon is out the door.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“Something on your mind?” Goddamn him for being so in tune with Taekwoon’s emotions. Jinsoo was a brute most of the time, but when he wasn’t, he was much too caring for Taekwoon’s taste. Sure, his drills weren’t spot on so far, but that was probably because Taekwoon had only had time to down a quick banana and the coffee before coming out to train, and that wasn’t enough for an athlete at all.

“M’fine.”

“Sure you are. You’ve only got the most sour look I’ve ever seen on your face. And that’s sayin’ something.” Taekwoon had garnered a reputation among the rookies when he first started out because of his horrific case of resting bitch face. When he got competitive, it was even worse, and his teammates wouldn’t repeat half the things he yelled from the sidelines when he wasn’t on shift for a game. They didn’t call him the Lion for nothing.

“Keep talking and you’ll see a sour face,” he fires back with no actual threat to his voice.

“Ooh, snappy. I like it. Tell me, what’s got Leo looking like he shit a brick and slash or ate a bucket of Vegemite.”

“That was ONE TIME and I told you I never wanted to talk about that ever again. People put it on toast,” he adds as an incredulous afterthought.

Jinsoo snickers and Taekwoon had a right mind to give him a good ol’ fashioned punch to the stomach, but he restrains himself. Jinsoo is a good guy, he tells himself, pretending to listen to what another coach is yelling at his own team from across the field. He’s a good friend that puts up with Taekwoon’s antics and calls him out on his bull, so give him the time of day.

Jinsoo claps him one hard on the back and Taekwoon barely flinches as he inflicts a swift shoulder to his friend’s side. They both put on brave faces, but Taekwoon hears Jinsoo wheeze under his breath and he’s finding some trouble inhaling himself. 

“So, it’s a girl, huh?” Jinsoo mutters under his breath later when it’s nearing the end of their makeshift drills. Taekwoon pretends to miss the ball and delivers a dandy of a kick right to his teammate’s shin. The yelp that comes from Jinsoo was very satisfactory, and the stinging in his foot isn’t enough to stop Taekwoon from walking away from practice elated. That was, until he sees the barrage of messages waiting for him on his phone. 

He scrolls and scrolls upon opening his messaging app, trying to find the first that was sent because he doesn’t recognize the number and the texts he’s receiving don’t make any sense. Maybe he looked a fool, standing there just outside the changing room as sweat still cooled on his skin and the bag that he kept in his car hanging at his side, but this was important.

The football player eventually bristles because, there, nonchalantly placed at the beginning of the messages, was a line of text that explained it all.

[SMS FROM: xxx] HEY THIS IS COOL THEY GAVE ME THIS THING TO CONTACT YOU WITH HI IT IS ME WHY ARE ALL THE LETTERS FUNNY  
[SMS FROM: xxx] YOUR SCHEDULE SAYS PRACTICE ON THE FRIDGE AN D MINYUL IS SO CUTE THIS PICTURE IS CUTE  
[SMS FROM: xxx] WHATS A LEGO

The rest of the thread continued in a similar fashion and Taekwoon grips his phone hard. He was glad he’d bought a case for it now, because if he had to keep putting up with this nonsense from the Fae in his home, he just might chuck it at a wall. As it was, because Taekwoon was a rational adult, he simply went into the user settings and clicked a very helpful button.  
[This user is now blocked. You will no longer receive messages or notifications from this sender.]

Perfect. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

Minyul is waiting for him when Taekwoon finds his way back to Chaewon’s door. His backpack is on the floor near the doorway, and there were still a few other kids in the house indicating that Taekwoon wasn’t the last parent to arrive. Taekwoon always tried not to be the last parent because he never wanted Minyul stuck with a caretaker who was wishing for some quiet after a long night, even if Chaewon didn’t seem like the type to act cold towards his nephew. Better safe than sorry, though, and Taekwoon steps through the doorway when Yugyeom’s mother invites him inside so that he can thank her properly and grab for Minyul’s bag. The child is putting on his shoes, pretty much attuned to his uncle’s presence by now, and Taekwoon was just starting to panic about how we was going to explain to Minyul about the man now in their home. It was settling in that Jaehwan wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon, but Taekwoon sure as Hell wasn’t going to be letting Minyul stay with him by himself. Not for child care, or any other reason. He was making do just fine by himself, thank you very much.

Still, there was little to no doubt that Minyul was going to ask about the Fae who was probably setting Taekwoon’s house on fire as he thought, but Taekwoon is snapped from his daydreaming when Chaewon pats him on the arm. It’s a friendly gesture, one that he doesn’t take for granted, and he gives her a soft smile before extending his arm at the side so that Minyul’s much smaller hand could latch onto his own so they can head out of the apartment. 

“Thank Mrs. Kang for letting you stay over.”  
With a smile that lights up his features, Minyul looks up and, to Taekwoon’s delight, bows at the older woman before expressing his gratitude nearly word for word.

“Thank you for letting me stay over, Mrs. Kang!” And then he’s tugging at Taekwoon’s fingers to drag his uncle out the door and back towards the elevator that will lead them downstairs, to the car, and then home. His uncle tries to shoot an apologetic glance back at the woman who had to tend to the other two children still causing a ruckus in her home, but the door is already closed. It was probably for his own benefit anyway. Lord knows the turmoil that the group of kids let loose in her home. 

Minyul was especially energetic when dragging his uncle along. 

“Ta, my friend’s at home, right?” Taekwoon nearly stops dead in his tracks, blinking once, twice, at the curious look in Minyul’s eyes- eyes that are staring right back at him with fiery intensity. 

“What friend, kiddo?” He asks slowly. Please be referring to a toy, please be referring to a toy, Taekwoon was thinking to himself in desperation.

“The magic one. He said he was gonna show me more. He promised.” And Taekwoon knew just how important promises were to Minyul, because he himself had sworn to never break one. Promises were very sacred between them. He didn’t want Jaehwan making promises to Minyul. But, if his nephew knew that Jaehwan was at the house already, then that meant he wouldn’t have to explain the situation. He could just say that the Fae was someone he used to go to school with, or maybe a person he knew from football. There, that was it. Then Jaehwan wouldn’t rouse any suspicion if Taekwoon did resort to bringing him along to games if only to keep the asparas under his watchful eye. 

Taekwoon stops Minyul with a soft tug on his arm, just enough to get the boy to halt his determined stride. His uncle stoops down, one knee against the ground so that he’s eye- level with the grade- schooler, and his brown eyes look tenderly upon his flesh and blood. 

“Yes. Your friend is there. But!” And he has to say this very quickly because Minyul looks like he’s about to let out a cheer in the middle of a hallway where there are definitely cameras set up to watch their every move. “He’s only going to be staying with us until I can think of a different arrangement for him. Okay?”

In all honesty, Taekwoon should have been alarmed at the immediate nod from his nephew because surely no child was so agreeable. As it was, the elevator doors were opening and they needed to make a hasty maneuver to allow for an elderly couple to get off of the elevator before the pair could make their way down to the lobby.

Taekwoon makes sure that he has a firm grasp of both bag and boy as they head for the parking lot, nodding his head at the receptionist behind the lobby desk, but he nearly trips over his own two feet at his nephew’s next nonchalant statement.

“It’s cool when he gets really small, too. He almost fit in my pocket last time!”

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

The football player is already expecting there to be some damage to his home when he gets back, and with Minyul in tow, he has to take a deep breath to mentally prepare himself for the range of sights that could meet him. Now was not the time for pessimistic thinking, Jung. Not when your nephew is begging for a snack and you still smell like sweat from practice. Maybe he should have waited to shower until now instead of doing it that morning. Too late, though. Taekwoon slides the keycard in its slot, turning the knob and inching his way inside only to be greeted by-

Cleanliness and quiet. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that he could see, except Jaehwan wasn’t in the living room where Taekwoon thought he would be. There was no way he had gone through Minyul’s collection of movies by now, and that would have kept him occupied for the handful of hours Taekwoon was gone.

Taekwoon can barely worry, though, because Minyul is squeezing through the door through the opening beside Taekwoon’s hip and sprinting into the home to head into the kitchen. His uncle barely sees a tuft of black hair and a flash of his nephew’s yellow shirt before he disappears around the corner. Gingerly, Taekwoon sets Minyul’s bag on the floor beside him, deciding that he would deal with the contents later on, when they were needed. His own gear had been left in the car for another day.

There’s a giggle from the room over as Taekwoon is adjusting the lock on his door, even though he’d only been fiddling with the thing for a small moment. He knew he was only delaying the inevitable fact that he would have to go into the kitchen to see if the Fae was there, but that didn’t stop him from actually delaying. Ignorance was bliss. “Unless it’s followed by a kiss” Taekwoon remembers Jinsoo saying once, right before Taekwoon lobbed a football in the direction of his friend’s head with a well executed kick.

The floor seems to stretch on for eternity, yet it is entirely too soon when Taekwoon has walked across the room and is close enough to pop his head around the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room. He was in the hallway that would lead to the bathroom and his own room should he need to make a run for it, but there wasn’t anything to be worried about. There was no Jaehwan lounging on the dining room table chair that Taekwoon had left him on. Only Minyul enjoying an orange as he twirled around on a barstool set against the island counter.

“You didn’t see my friend in here, did you, Kiddo?” The football player inquires, fully setting foot in the room but with eyes dodging from one side to the other with the expectation that Jaehwan might materialize out of a wall when he least expected it. Minyul dutifully shakes his head, taking another bite of the pre-sliced orange but smiling like he had a secret. Taekwoon knew that face. It was the same face Minyul made the time he had slipped ice cubes under his bed covers so that his uncle got a nasty surprise when he tried to go to bed that night. Taekwoon did not like where that face was headed. 

“Are you sure? I won’t be mad if you tell me the truth right now.” It’s a warning, but still Minyul isn’t budging. He actually shrugs. And then, so rapid that Taekwoon might have missed it were it not the sign he had been looking for, Minyul looks right over Taekwoon’s shoulder. 

“Boo.”

Taekwoon rounds on the voice, instinctively punching out into thin air because Jaehwan is already out of range and Minyul’s laugh is ringing through the kitchen, bouncing off the stainless steel appliances to cause a literal vibration, one that Taekwoon can feel. But then Jaehwan gets in on the action and Taekwoon wonders if he’s entered into a Twilight Zone of bad gags and dad jokes. 

In a few seconds, Taekwoon has his bearings again, pointing a finger accusingly at the Fae. There was a murderous glint in his eyes, one that had even Jaehwan taking a step back as he raised his hands in surrender. 

“It was just a prank, bro. No harm done. You know. A prank. A joke. A good ol’ jest. You gotta learn how to laugh a little,” Jaewhan tries to reason, ducking around the steaming football player with ease. “See? He’s got the right idea.” 

The asparas is gesturing with a thumb over at Minyul, who was wiping his eyes with the backs of his pudgy hands to rid himself of the tears his sudden bout of laughter had left him with. Taekwoon might have praised his nephew’s acting skills were he not so jumpy. What was it about Jaehwan that made him so jumpy?

(Is he who you’ve been waiting for?)

That voice in his head really needed to take a lap.  
Taekwoon rests his hand on the counter to his side, one just beside the doorway, where his toaster and coffee pot were located. It was only one in the afternoon and he was just about ready to let the sleep embrace of sleep take him in its arms and lull him into a false sense of security. 

He doesn’t know he’s let his head droop until he has to raise it, only to see that Jaehwan and Minyul are speaking some nonsense he’s sure he doesn’t understand. 

“And you’re going to stay forever?”

Taekwoon definitely catches that because his nephew’s glittering eyes actually look hopeful. How had Jaehwan gotten Minyul to trust him so easily in so short a time?

“Yep! You’re stuck with me. Do you think you can get your Uncle to be more nice to me, though? He’s such a mean old geezer!” And Minyul is babbling something else that Taekwoon can barely make sense of but that Jaehwan is keen to nod his head to, as if completely captivated. Taekwoon would be lying if he said the scene didn’t warm his heart a little, his nephew actually opening up to someone, but why did it have to be this creature that he took such a liking to. 

“I bet he didn’t tell you that I’m a Faerie, either. Well, I am and I can prove it.”  
Jaehwan is sitting on the stool beside Minyul now, blowing a puff of air out of his mouth when Taekwoon steps in by pressing a firm hand to the asparas’ shoulder.

“Alright, that’s enough. See, Minyul, my friend is a magician. I bet he has lots of cool tricks to show you, but he’ll show you later. After we have a talk. I recorded that episode of the show you like for you, so you can go and watch it now.” There’s a plea in his voice, and Minyul, smart kid that he was, took the hint, hopping off of his seat and waving at Jaehwan before running his way into the living room. Orange slices are left on the counter, but that was the least of Taekwoon’s worries. 

“No more of that magic shit.”  
“But he liiiiikes it.”  
“No more. He’s a kid. I don’t need this stuff messing with his head.”  
“Why won’t you just let him believe in it? In me? I’m not doing any harm!”  
“The world isn’t fucking rainbows and sunshine shooting helpful stars out of its ass,” Taekwoon hisses, resorting to what he called the Swear Tactic. His voice had dropped to a level he knew that Minyul couldn’t hear, so he was safe. “Life here is hard, and Minyul’s already had trouble with not staying on track with other kids. You’re not going to fill his head with whatever you call it just so that he can fall behind again. It’s not fair to him.”

“No, you’re not being fair!” Jaehwan whisper- yells right back at him, taking Taekwoon aback for a moment by the mere fierceness in his tone. “I’m real, right? You didn’t even believe it last night, but I’m real, and I’m here, and like it or not, I have to stay here, so I’m going to do whatever I want. If it means telling Minyul all about where I come from and showing him what I can do so that he’s more aware of it, then so be it!” Jaehwan crosses his arms over his chest, a mimicry of the stance Taekwoon had previously used on him, and stares daggers over at the slightly taller man. Taekwoon is actually speechless, because Jaehwan was right in some respects. Then again-

“If he starts getting teased because he talks about this sorcery shit, you’re the one who’s going to be paying for it from me,” Taekwoon chastises, fixing on Jaehwan an icy look before striding right out of his own kitchen to talk to his own nephew in his own house. On another note, Taekwoon noticed that Jaehwan had been wearing his clothes. And they had looked pretty good on him. But, now was not the time. With Minyul snugly set up in the living room, there was time to figure out what the next step to take should be. The promise that Jaehwan made the night before about barely being noticeable was already broken, and Taekwoon didn’t spare any time thinking that he might change. The Korean man was already deducing that trouble was in the Fae’s nature, but just how far was he willing to go? With the carefree way that he’d introduced himself to Taekwoon, Jaehwan didn’t seem the type to get upset easily, but Taekwoon has just now hit a nerve. He could use that to his advantage. 

Somewhat appeased, Taekwoon hops onto the couch beside his nephew, circling an arm around the small boy to pull him protectively to his uncle’s side. He was the most important thing in this whole equation, and if Jaehwan was going to mess things up for him, then he would have to go, any magical agreement be damned. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯  


**Excerpt From The Third Work of Han Gyeon (1625)**  
_To be understood as a translation into modern speak of the 20th century. Translation as approved by professors Choi Yongmin and Kim Soyee of Korea University’s Linguistics Department and the International Circle of Korean Linguistics._  


Long, stretching limbs spread from the trunks of trees as the air begins to cool with the coming of the afternoon. Quarter past the hour we sat in wait, and then another, and another until it became too stifling to continue count though a valiant effort it was. Mine own eyes trained straight ahead with no want of risk of detecting the origins of the shadow that didst hasten to follow us to this secluded spot. No need to make certain the rest of the party followed suit as a hush descended upon the group and the grove in tandem, only the rustling of winds through leaves and bushes to keep company the set of travelers. To stare too deeply for too long a period of time began to play tricks on the mind, morphing patterns shaping from the continued path ahead made from the small hurricanes of forest debris brought to life by a wandering violent wisp of air teasing tantalizing natural elements.  


The cracking of lips from dryness has begun to plague us when there emerges the figures. They appear as if a creation of the woodland itself, ranging in sizes and shapes and only then does it come to light that there has been one of Them with us during the entire length of our journey. Not our guide, as we might have expected, but from the pocket of a particularly fortunate clergyman whom happened upon what he thought to be a stone. Fluttering wings fastly gain height once freed from the robes it was trapped within, the silvery completion of the she-Fae given a sheen from patches of sunlight dappled through the trees. Before us she didst Transform, not with a flash of light but barely a glow of magyks, and certainly they were very old Magycks to be so silent in their practice. There was once I did happen upon a similar situation and it was because of this experience I did not gasp, though the same could not be said for my companions.  


With hair descending from narrow shoulders to cover her supple breasts only to fall to the sim of her hips, the Faerie stood in her glory before us. Wonder for how we could not determine her proper species did not arise, curled up as she was to resemble a stone. None of these characteristics shown now, for the moss once thought to be just moss were in actuality the clothing of the Messenger, darkly green silk encompassing grey-tinged flesh seen so very alive by the rose tint to her cheeks and lips. When her eyes were open to full glory, so was there a considerable breath taken from the seven, for vivacious violet hues gaged us with a penetrating stare. Not one was spared from the orbs that searched, even as she stood stock still were we all rooted to spot with not one inch of room to spare for movement.  


The moment passes, and only when it has past didst we become aware that even the screech of wind would forfeit to the Messenger with the purple eyes. She was the first. There were many to follow after whose crystalline wings of varying colours and shapes folded to their backs in the time after our appraisal. Shortly, our surroundings became only a blur of unfamiliar faces while some chose to take a smaller form than others, settling comfortably on the shoulders of the human group with only the small offerings cupped in our palms to give to the creatures of the wood.  


A finger is lifted. Our guide with cracking knees rises to his feet while his head dips to the noble lady before him, his position stayed for minutes as we six follow when indication given by the slender, dexterous finger of the messenger. Perhaps we waver. Perhaps limbs fight not to give way from the ways they have come. She does not show the mercy we were thought to be given as this is not the final end to our journey. Farther to go, yet the tiny beings making home on our shoulders take flyte to our hands to dip their own dirt- stained digits into the liquids. I closely watch as the creature in mine commenced with washing grub from his own cheeks, the mud trickling into the pool at mine hand. For the briefest of moments, I do recall believing to have been given a smile from the most natural of beings even as they all didst flee to return as a flock to the Messenger; a giant in comparison although slight of height when the men did rise to follow her turned back.  


The lady did not take the continuous path, instead with a grin, crooking a finger to the dark shade that was a hideaway for the shadow of before.  


A growl-! startling us seven with its ferocity tis reverberated through the trail and about the entire forest it seemed, quaking the earth under foot until the sheer force did begin to spread the valley so tirelessly we did trek upon to reach the place of our meeting. Shrubbery and greenery were moved about and in such a cataclysmic motion did we begin to lose our footing, falling hard onto our backs against the dirt cushioned by dead leaves. Our breaths taken by impact are only fought to be received again in short minutes, but as we begin to rise from where we have fallen, the terrible fact becomes clear. About the way we have come is a blockage, and we had become trapped so as we must follow the divine, disastrous maiden of a Messenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch Whisper by VIXX LR.


	5. Petrichor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotion Unlocked!

Taekwoon begins to regret arguing with Jaehwan in the weeks to come. The reasons as to why Jaehwan became so upset with the ground rules Taekwoon had set were a mystery to him, but Jaehwan was particularly cold to him, going so far as to literally turn his back to the man whenever he entered a room. And Minyul, in an act of solidarity with the asparas who was quickly becoming his new best friend, began to reject more and more of Taekwoon’s invitations. Even the ones where he could have skipped an extra tutor session after his regular class. Needless to say, Taekwoon was finding himself feeling down often these days. Not to mention that all of his left socks were slowly going missing.

So much for having a faerie of good fortune around.

The worst part, and he came to find this out begrudgingly when he stopped into the cafe down the street from his apartment ( a small thing, barely a hole-in-the-wall, but still somehow cozy and charming ) for the first time and was met with the sight of a very familiar looking barista smiling brightly from behind the counter at a few ogling, giggling female patrons. 

“J-Jaehwan!” He may or may not have exclaimed extremely loudly right in the middle of the entryway to the cafe, where Taekwoon had frozen out of astonishment, effectively blocking both flows of human traffic in and out of the establishment. Jaehwan had simply shot him a wink, causing Taekwoon to (1) flush so profusely he nearly became dizzy from the rush of blood to his cheeks and (2) stumble so fast back out through the door that he almost tripped over his own shoes. His only saving grace had been clinging to the side of the building so hard his knuckles turned white even as the Fae’s tinkling laughter sounded from behind him, ringing in his ears on and on and on and…

Taekwoon went home coffee-less and with a growing headache that day. And the worst part was that the funny business didn’t stop there because, somehow, Jaehwan had choreographed his shifts at the cafe so that he was working whenever Taekwoon was out and in their home whenever Taekwoon was not. Taekwoon saw little of Minyul and way too much of the faerie, and Jaehwan was talkative. Oftentimes he had a story to tell the toddler, something that sent him giggling before he went to sleep, and Minyul was sleeping well lately. There were few nightmares where he would rouse Taekwoon from sleep to comfort him from before the asparas showed up, but in the following month, not a peep came from his nephew’s bedroom. Still, the glow of Minyul’s nightlight shone from his room down the hall, but no matter how much Taekwoon tossed and turned endlessly into the small hours of the morning, Minyul was silent. 

Jaehwan took up residence in Taekwoon’s living room, much to the soccer player’s dissatisfaction, but there was little he could do stop it. Truthfully, it wasn’t all that bad considering there was just this extra person thrust into Taekwoon’s life who was now tearing down all of the carefully built walls that he had made to keep his nephew safe and healthy and maybe, hopefully, logical. There was just that small, little thing. (Jaehwan actually helped around the house, too. The living room was, somehow, never dirty. Messy, sure, but every day Taekwoon didn’t have to vacuum was a good day in his books.)  
The problem was the lack of knowledge. Taekwoon wasn’t learning anything about Jaehwan like this except that he could hold a grudge for a really long time, was incredibly petty and had an affinity for vanilla cream-filled cookies with rainbow sprinkles; many of which he found circulating around the house. Why they ended up in the freezer at one point, Taekwoon didn’t know, nor did he ever want to find out. 

An end to his predicament didn’t seem to be in sight, either, and there’s a growing ache in his bones as the warmth of the sun begins to fade and there’s a tangible crispness to the air. 

Taekwoon starts to get ideas as the season changes. The sweet bliss of summer had offered some weeks of relaxation for him, and the few weeks that Minyul had off school meant that he could take back some of the time Jaehwan stole from the uncle- nephew duo. Needless to say, there was much intake of sugary treats and little exercise that Taekwoon got, which Jinsoo made sure to poke fun of the next time they had a spar session and Taekwoon found himself out of breath rather quickly. 

September came and went with few incidents. Jaehwan was gone more often, presumably working now that caffeine driven teens and young adults were pining for their fixes. (Taekwoon hadn't stepped foot in that cafe ever since the first time) and the thing was that the soccer player was getting used to having another body around. If anything, it was less... lonely. Taekwoon felt not so isolated nowadays, especially considering that his continuous mumblings to himself rarely went unheard. Pro: he didn't feel as crazy. Con: if Jaehwan was around, Taekwoon was sure the fae was storing everything the man said to use as blackmail for another day. 

It gets to when the leaves change colours. A melancholy mood befalls the asparas, and Minyul is the one to point it out to Taekwoon when, after a while, it became clear that Jaehwan was not going to be teaching Minyul a 'super cool trick'.

“Ta,” the boy starts, blissfully unaware of the depth of human emotion, “he won’t play with me.” So, Taekwoon drops to knee level, square to his nephew so he can look into the heartbroken eyes staring back at him. 

“Why don’t we all go to the game today? That might cheer him up,” Taekwoon suggests, because the football season was starting now and it was time to get back to the grind. He would be playing today; glad that Jinsoo put him through rigorous and relentless training after his previous lack of ingenuity. 

Minyul perks up at that, with big brown eyes beginning to fill with excitement. He missed being a part of the crowd, Taekwoon knew. There was an energy in the stands that couldn’t be matched, and even if his nephew was unable to completely comprehend why the atmosphere was so electrifying, he could at least revel in it. 

“OK!” Then he’s off, running into the other room without another care in the world and leaving his uncle still kneeling, fond eyes following the child because surely there was a time when he was so easily appeased, too. Taekwoon wished he was so easily appeased now. 

Jaehwan’s mood was a downer in the home. His lack of enthusiasm for things had not gone unnoticed, and it made Taekwoon wonder… It made him want to pry. Taekwoon was not a slave to his curiosity, though, and could handle not knowing everything going on in other people’s minds. That had really been the last straw though, when Minyul came to his uncle unhappy. Taekwoon would not allow that, knowing that no person could be perfect all the time but also acknowledging that Minyul was harbouring growing feelings for the fae. Why couldn’t it have been someone Taekwoon was close with, at least? (Taekwoon was never going to admit that he felt threatened by Jaehwan. The lack of a mother figure in Minyul’s life was a painful thought, and Taekwoon constantly thought that Minyul may be better if he had someone else to look up to besides his uncle). 

As the soccer player stands, his knees crack in a reminder that his body was getting older. Putting it through intense cardio may keep him feeling young, but every day was another day closer to the big three o, and that was scary- life kept going on, but where was he going to end up? He trudges into the living room, where Jaehwan is sitting at the windowsill, fixated on something down below on the street. 

“I’m taking Minyul to the game later,” Taekwoon pipes up after a moment of silence, Jaehwan not paying his arrival any attention. “He’d like it if you joined us.”

Taekwoon isn’t sure what he’s expecting, but it sure as Hell wasn’t radio silence. But, that’s what he got. The asparas was motionless, still looking below. Every so often, he would blink, which almost alarmed Taekwoon because he might have been a statue otherwise. Taekwoon clears his throat.

“I would like it if you came, as well.” That seems to catch Jaehwan’s attention, because he is visibly startled. Shoulders tense, and the barest movements of his head in Taekwoon’s directions suggest the fae’s newly found interest. It looks like he nods, and that’s enough for the soccer player. It was time to attend to his kid.

As evening arrives, so does the taste of anticipation. Competitive genes were being brought back to life, stretching their stiff limbs in Taekwoon’s nervous lip bite and bouncing leg as he sits on the bench in the locker room beside his teammates. They’re a good sized group today, almost two full lines meaning that they would actually have time to stop and breath on the sidelines before they had to head back in and tear up the turf again. Taekwoon’s cleats felt like lead on his feet, even though he had just been going through warm- up in them. Out there, he knew Minyul would be watching, and he wanted his nephew to be proud; as proud of Taekwoon was Taekwoon was of him. 

His captain is spluttering some garbage about friendliness, but Taekwoon had stopped listening some time ago. They all signed the waiver, they all knew the dangers that came with the game. Too many a broken limb for Taekwoon to bat an eye about the issue of a fair game. (He knew how to play dirty. They all did. The difference was that he didn’t go down after every hit to try and invoke a penalty. That was just plain rude, in his opinion). Anyway, bouncing leg. Jinsoo’s hand was on his thigh. Taekwoon didn’t hear what his friend was saying, he just knew that it was time to enter the field and start the game when everyone stood. He’d missed this. He’d missed feeling free.

The noise in the stands deafens him. Or was he deaf beforehand? Taekwoon wasn’t listening, perhaps, because his eyes were scanning for the one face that he actually wanted to see- or maybe it was two now. Jaehwan was sitting with Minyul today, as per the young boy’s request, high enough that he was most likely safe from any ball that decided to leave the play. Taekwoon made sure of that. 

“It would be great if Leo made an appearance tonight,” Sungmin was spouting somewhere close to him. Sungmin was a good player, Taekwoon could remember. Sungmin also spent a lot of time with nation- deemed undesirables. Still no drug scandal, though, so Taekwoon had to give him props for that. He throws his teammate a thumbs-up, earning a bright grin from the midfielder before starts mingling with the other men. Caught by the entrance to the locker rooms, Taekwoon can see that Dongchul, their captain, is being hounded by press for that extra moment they can squeeze in before the game. Taekwoon’s chest is starting to feel tight again. 

The whistle sounds, but the starting line is devoid of him. That was alright, though, because Jinsoo was pacing beside Taekwoon beside the rest of the team, encouraging their group on until it’s time for them to take over. Whatever goes through Taekwoon’s brain as he plays is a fuzzy recollection. He’s seen videos of himself on the field, a force of nature to be reckoned with and there were more than a few occasions his teammates admitted to never wanting to be checked against him. It’s because Leo was mean. 

Sure enough, halftime rolls around in a blink when Taekwoon comes back into himself. He’s panting heavily, sweat rolling off his body from the exertion and he takes long gulps of the bright blue drink in his water bottle. It’s energizing him, he rationalizes, replacing the… Electrolytes? That’s what they were. 

His head is between his knees so that he can stare down at the too- bright green turf below him, just too far on the side of fluorescent to look real. Taekwoon loved that he didn’t have the air to think when he was here. He reveled in it. 

“The kiddo’s wavin’ at you, buddy,” Jinsoo elbows him in the ribs, effectively breaking Taekwoon from his short dissociation so that he can look at the plump fist rapidly gesturing in the air. A large grin breaks over his face when he waves back, not bothering to see if Jaehwan is doing the same. The life of a second forward could be hard, but meeting the asparas’ eyes was turning out to be a whole new level of difficult. 

Twenty minutes of intermission is both too long and painfully short, especially if your team is lagging by two shots. They were all determined to prove their worth, though, and when Taekwoon turned on the jets, the game really started. He ended up assisting on three goals and scoring one in the entire match, earning him a clap on the back from his coach and captain alike because now they were in the lead, and that looked good to the press. Hometown heroes, a lot of them were; just silly children with dreams of making it in the big leagues. Every sport had its politics, however, and Taekwoon knew better than to disregard that fact. 

“You and Sungmin really made it for us tonight, you know,” Jinsoo praises him later, when the stands are clearing out and it’s only the two of them left in the locker room to change out of their uniforms. “You don’t need to be playing with us lowly folks in this tier.”

“Then who would I smack around?” Taekwoon snorts, throwing his perspiration-soaked shorts at the defenceman and earning a spluttering sound from the other man. He grins. They were all riding the high of their victory, it seemed, because a win on the first game always felt good. They could expect their rivals to come back with a fury, though, and that was the best part. Always a new challenge, always something new to divert Taekwoon’s attention.

“More like ‘who would deal with your angsty teen whiny ways’?Drinks later? Yeonseok was telling me coach is buying first round. Besides, saw you got that babysitter. Now you can actually have a good time.”

The freezing of Taekwoon’s shoulders had nothing to do with Jaehwan being mentioned, he told himself. 

“I’d like to head home, actually. I want to help Minyul with some homework,” he fibs easily. It was a bad skill to have, really, being able to make up an excuse so easily at the expense of his kid. Still… 

“Alright, alright. I dunno the parent life, so you got me there. Anyway,” Jinsoo raises from his position, balling up Taekwoon’s shorts before chucking them with terrific speed at his friend’s head. “If you change your mind, I’ll text you the name of the place, how about that? Thought I saw Minyul trying to start a scrimmage before we came in here, too, and that’s waaay more interesting than you right now. Peace.”

Taekwoon shakes his head at Jinsoo walks his way backwards out of the room, performing a ludicrously cheesy spin on his heel before disappearing behind the wall. The sound of the swinging door pushing open reverberates, and then Taekwoon is alone. Finally time to let out a long breath, to actually take a real breath in. 

His moment of serenity is short- lived, because too soon the door is opening again, only, the person who comes through is not who he would have expected to see.

“Oh!” Jaehwan jumps along with his exclamation, holding the collar of his yellow shirt out away from his chest where Taekwoon can see a red liquid stain blossoming.

“Are you alright?” Dad Instincts activate, concern riddling Taekwoon’s voice as he springs into action. He has a little boy, his first thought is blood. 

“Y-yeah, it just spilled on me…” Jaehwan’s voice is small, more quiet than usual, and Taekwoon sees there’s uneasiness behind his actions. Most likely because Taekwoon had become very close to him very quickly.

“There should be… I have an extra shirt,” the football player recalls, turning his body to dig through the bag left on the bench beside him. “There isn’t really… We all just change in front of each other, so unless you want to find the washrooms…” Taekwoon trails off, attempting to find an escape route. “Actually, I’ll just wait outside for you, alright?”

A nod from the other man staring at Taekwoon’s shoulder, so the shirt is pressed into Jaehwan’s open palm and Taekwoon steps around the body to emerge into the open field. Only, he forgets his bag, his reflexes betraying him because he doesn’t think before reversing to retrieve the item.

And that’s when Taekwoon sees them. With Jaehwan’s bare flesh presented to him, although without the asparas’ knowledge, the haphazard array of angry white lines scarring the tan-tinted skin. They ran up the side of his body like a flame, licking hungrily even in their frozen state to permanently mangle the fae’s form. They were beautiful, in a horrific sort of way, and Taekwoon wasn’t able to stop the gaping of his mouth as his mind tried to register just what he was looking at. What could have possibly made a mark like that?

The clearing of Jaehwan’s throat is what he hears next, and Taekwoon startles at the sound, his eyes focusing on a spot on the floor as he dips his head shamefully. Even if Jaehwan hadn’t meant for Taekwoon to see the -they had to have come from a fire. It was the only thing that would make sense- pattern extending from Jaehwan’s ribs to his left hip, he shouldn’t have reacted that way.

“Yeah, they’re pretty bad. They don’t hurt, though, and it actually looks kind of cool, don’t you think?” Comes Jaehwan’s cheery voice, and Taekwoon winces internally, chancing a glance up at the fae whose resolve seemed to waver just about as much as his mood; which was never. 

“Y-Yeah, it looks cool. Like a… Tattoo?” The soccer player tentatively responds, going along with Jaehwan because maybe something like that was normal in the realm of the FaeFolk. It wasn’t like Taekwoon was an expert on such things. Anyway, the other man seemed to relax at Taekwoon’s statement, so hopefully they were heading into safer territory now.

Jaehwan finished with slipping the loose t-shirt over his frame, covering the large patch of tarnished flesh with the cotton mass and flashing a smile at the football player now rooted to the spot. The longer Taekwoon spent around him, the more of an enigma Jaehwan was. 

“It’s kind of like a tattoo, but one that you get if you’re not very good at your job. Or if you piss a high- seated fucker off. Or if someone just really doesn’t like you,” he continues nonchalantly- he being the asparas moving to sit on the locker room bench- his hands clasping with fingers folding together in front of him as his stare levels into one that’s blank. He was looking intensely at something that Taekwoon couldn’t, and didn’t want, to see. “I know you enough to know that you won’t ask, but I guess I should tell you. Just like you didn’t have a say in taking me in, I didn’t get to deny coming. Kinda funny how that works. If anything, I think They saw what you did and thought to themselves ‘gee, I bet he’d be a good guy to let _Kalan_ off to.”

Taekwoon wasn’t going to stop Jaehwan at this point. There was a little voice in the back of his head telling him not to, that Minyul would be well looked after for a few more minutes by his teammates if no one else, so he takes the opportunity to sit slowly on the opposite end of the bench, ready to listen. 

The shaky breath that Jaehwan lets out signifies that this is hard for him. There was always the underlying assumption Taekwoon had that no being could be as happy as Jaehwan seemed to be all the time (sans the last few weeks). Of course he would be hiding behind a facade of bright behaviour. 

“I have a sister. She’s part of the _Diamae_ sect, too, but she’s not a troublemaker like me. She looked out for me a lot even though she’s younger than me. Human families and Fae families are really similar like that.” Whether or not he intended to, the asparas started to smile. “Her name is Mavis because she has a really nice singing voice. She taught me how to sing. She said that it would help me to control my ‘mischievous nature’.” A trembling of his bottom lip and then Jaehwan is blinking, as though coming back to the present with a new clarity shining in his deep brown orbs. He actually turns to look at Taekwoon now, probably because he knows that Taekwoon is trapped under the spell of those eyes every time they’re laid on him. “They sent me to you to get me out of their hair, and now I can’t go back to her. But, that’s OK. Minyul is here, and you aren’t even that bad, either. I know you saw me that day in the park, because I was thinking to myself that being around you wouldn’t be as awful as everyone who was sent to the _wosh_ realm made it out to be. But, I can’t help thinking that it would be easier for you if I wasn’t here anymore. You two are really… You’re all I have right now. The only reason I would want to go back is for her, anyway.”

When Jaehwan is silent for a few moments, Taekwoon knows that it’s his turn to speak, but he had no idea what to say. Encouraging Jaehwan would be cruel, he thought, since he was essentially contracted under the human now in an agreement neither of them had made the regulations to. The world could be cruel, and Jaehwan was still regarding Taekwoon with the same look as before, with that small smile still on his lips. 

Attempting to speak resulted in a hushed noise sounding from Taekwoon’s throat, and he has to lick his lips before he can start again. He hopes that Jaehwan can see the truth in his words even if they were reflected in his eyes. 

“If I had to be stuck with any creature that wasn’t human, I’m glad that it’s you.” (Wow, that was really lame, Taekwoon. Way to sound like a bad drama protagonist, he chides himself internally as he bites down nervously on his tongue.) “Minyul likes you, probably even loves you. That kid feels hard. And… I like having you here. Around. Even if you sometimes make me want to pull my hair out.” There was no way he was making the situation better, but Taekwoon couldn’t seem to stop the words from falling from his mouth. Jaehwan is looking at him with parted lips now and Taekwoon is sure that the furrow of his brow is from confusion, but even as he’s rambling, Jaehwan is moving closer. Inch by inch he was moving closer, until Jaehwan’s impish face is mere centimeters from Taekwoon’s and the nonsense coming from him had hushed to a murmur of unintelligible sounds before eventually ceasing entirely. Jaehwan was very close now; so close that Taekwoon can see golden flecks spastically decorating the irises of the fae’s eyes. They almost glowed, imbuing Taekwoon with an odd sense of astonishment. He was comfortably held in place by the stare, and in the next instant, he can feel the soft exhale of Jaehwan’s breath on his face. If the thundering of his heart pounding in his ears weren’t so loud, he might have heard the door to the locker room swinging open, but it took the bang of the door hitting the wall just inside the room for Taekwoon to spring into action. He jumped, and the moment was broken, Jaehwan leaning back and crossing his ankles as he looked expectantly in the direction of the short hallway separating the inner room from the door. 

“Yo!” Jinsoo shouts, raising a hand in greeting to the two men sitting on the benches as his angular head rounds the corner. “Minyul’s challenging Kyung to a match. You wanna come out and watch your star nephew kick some professional soccer player ass?”

“You bet we do!” Jaehwan answers for Taekwoon, already up from his seat and Taekwoon might have been offended, but he wasn’t. He stands with creaking joints, feeling much older than his 25 -almost 26- years and thinking there were things much too ancient for him to be pondering over, but maybe he should be asking more about Jaehwan and less of him. They had only known one another for three months, anyway. 

It isn’t until they’re back in the cozy apartment suite that they call home that the topic comes up again, and it’s when Minyul is in the washroom brushing his teeth while Taekwoon and Jaehwan just happen to be lounging in the kitchen waiting for their turns to get ready for the night. The man who broaches the subject isn’t even Taekwoon; it’s the fae sitting somewhat nervously on one of the bar stools beside the island, wringing his wrists together in front of him in visible uneasiness. 

“I didn’t tell you all that so you’d feel bad for me!” He splutters when Taekwoon is reaching into a cupboard to grab a glass to fill with water. The soccer player pauses in his action, turning his head to look full-on at the man suffering in his vexation. The arm previously raised lowers, devoid of any cup, to splay its fingers out on the counter-top level to Taekwoon’s waist. There is no audio indication that Minyul would be out of the bathroom anytime soon, and so this would be as good a time as ever to confront the demons Taekwoon knew now plagued the normally jolly-tempered man. 

“I didn’t think you had,” Taekwoon murmurs, his tone the softest - the one he used when Minyul accidentally scraped his knee or bumped his elbows against something hard- as he rounds the side of the island to slide into the empty seat beside Jaehwan. The black cushion of the chair did little to stop the chill of the metal frame beneath from seeping into Taekwoon’s skin, but he would live. 

The man beside him is acting unlike Taekwoon had ever seen of him before, with nervous glances at the human from the corner of his eyes setting Taekwoon on edge. First, he would try to calm Jaehwan down. There was no doubt he might be feeling some insecurity after the confession from before, and Taekwoon wouldn’t judge him for that. 

Yet again, the asparas takes Taekwoon by surprise though, when, in a terribly accurate Heath- Ledger- as- The- Joker impression, Jaehwan huffs out a “wanna know how I got these scars?” as if to set a happier mood to the conversation. If he hadn’t gone through years of being an uncle to an unpredictable young boy, Taekwoon might not have been able to keep in his laughter. Instead he wondered how Jaehwan figured out the means to watch The Dark Knight on his television in English considering Taekwoon didn’t own it and there was no pay-per-view option for his cable plan. (He would later toss and turn, thinking of the many possibilities to achieve such a thing before realizing that Jaehwan must have hacked into his laptop somehow to stream films.)

“I would… Appreciate if you told me. But, you shouldn’t feel like you have to. I’m sure it’s very personal.” Despite the times that the fae had driven him crazy, Taekwoon knew there was a limit to what he could ask of the man -creature- in his home. 

He seemed to have said the right thing, because the tension in Jaehwan’s shoulders begins to fade, even though he is looking at the doorway to the kitchen and now refusing to meet Taekwoon’s wondering gaze. Taekwoon decided that he did not like, at all, when the fae got like this; it made him too unreachable. 

“I told you, I got into a lot of trouble when I was littler. It’s not the same as here -people have no time or patience for the young folk- and when you don’t really have anyone to keep you in line except for some stuffy old Elders you’re supposed to look up to and cherish every waking second of the day from the day you can speak onward, it starts to feel like some BS,” the blond starts to ramble, the start of an electrifying current beginning to form in the air. Taekwoon takes a chance and rests one of his hands on Jaehwan’s, the one currently tapping a finger progressively more rapidly against the linoleum counter. 

“Parents and stuff, that’s this world things, really human things. Well, I guess even the animals have got those, too, but where I come from, you take after the people around you. A community, really, who raises you and tells you what you’re supposed to be like and then what you’re GOING to be like. You don’t get a choice. They divided us into sects based on how we got along with the other FaeFolk, and I just happened to be placed in _Diamae_ because I showed some potential. They called it potential, anyway. 

“The _Diamae_ heads, though, they didn’t really like that I was there. Probably because Grenog -that’s a great name, Grenog- never believed I had what it took. I was kinda… What’s that movie we saw the other day? Aladdin? I guess I was kinda like that ‘riff-raff’ ‘cause I was loud and stuff.” He takes a breath now, the unbroken speech too much for his (human-like) lungs before continuing.

“I was just lucky that my sister was in my sect, too. Everyone liked Mavis a lot, and none of them thought we were actually related. I heard them all talk about how she must have just taken me in as a brother figure because she was so nice -and she is nice. The nicest creature in the whole universe. She’d love Minyul a lot, I think. The Elders looked at her like she was a star, and she always made sure to meet all of their expectations, not because she wanted to all the time, but because she knew if she didn’t that I would be the one blamed. 

“There’s one thing that humans and FaeFolk have in common, though,” and Jaehwan’s raw eyes (Taekwoon certainly wasn’t imagining it now; there was definitely something sparkling in them) land on the human beside him. Said human under the spell of the story, his shoulders leaning in to soak in the information even without his knowledge. “We feel things the same. Emotions and physical pain. We could make music like humans can because we needed it to keep us sane. But, it does sound different. When you guys sing, there are some who use those weird things to make their voices unnatural. That’s interesting, but it’s not really that beautiful to me.”

So what if Jaehwan lost himself on some tangents? Taekwoon was nodding his head rhythmically to the beat of his words. Melodic. 

“I used to make music that they didn’t like, and they didn’t want me to sing, either. Mavis could sing, though, a lot better than I can. They wanted her to sing just for them, and I think that’s why they hated me so much; because she was always with me, and if she was with me, she wasn’t with them. I liked taking her from them, though. It made me feel powerful, like I had something the Elders couldn’t take away from me. I guess I should’ve known that they’d do something to get back at me for it.” 

A vague knowledge of Jaehwan turning his hand over to grip onto Taekwoon’s comes over the soccer player, and he squeezes down in what he hopes is a consoling manner to the trembling digits. Queue the tragic backstory he might never tell Jaehwan. 

“They got their opportunity when Mavis was called out for, I guess you might call it two weeks time here, her duty. There was a group of _giall_ travelers who were granted access to our realm and she was meant to lead them. She was basically a messenger, but she was also one of the most trusted _Diamae_ , and she had to watch them to make sure they didn’t interfere with our way of life too much. The Elders warned us all the time that humans destroyed their own worlds and so we couldn’t trust them not to harm ours. 

“Anyway, she was gone so I was basically in the _Diamae_ sect alone because we still had places where we could live, like houses and stuff, but not like this. More like… We like flowers a lot, so usually it’s based off of those and we try to make them out of pretty stuff. Mavis really likes dandelions because she can stew them. 

“They started to watch me really close for those two weeks, and I knew they would, but I was stupid and I started doing dumb things just to deliberately make them mad. I wanted them to know that I hated being around them just as much as they hated having me. It’s not a nice feeling, you know? Not a nice fucking feeling at all. I took the people who were actually rooting for me for granted, too, because there were people I cared about there. I don't think I could ever show my face to them after that, though, after what they did. Well… You saw.”

If nothing else, Taekwoon admired Jaehwan’s tenacity. It was clear that he wanted to tell someone his tale, and Taekwoon was humbled to be the one who heard it. 

“I ended up hearing something I shouldn’t have. Where the Elders are is like a private place, I guess you could compare it to how there’s a president here. They’re in control of a lot to keep everyone happy and in line, and when there’s Defects… They called me that. I was a Defect, and so they had to deal with me properly. I used to sneak into the place all the time, and I just happened to hear something I shouldn’t have, so they had a reason to.. To…”

He can’t seem to go on after that, and there’s something that breaks in Taekwoon’s heart when he sees the utter despair present in Jaehwan’s expression. He takes the smaller man by the shoulders, bringing him close to Taekwoon’s chest as the tears that Jaehwan had been making a desperate attempt to keep at bay finally spilled over his eyelids to leave clear liquid tracks down his cheeks. Taekwoon noticed the shaking of the fae’s shoulders even though the asparas was clearly reluctant to make a sound. Taekwoon decided not to mention it. 

The passage of time wasn’t clear until the sound of a running faucet in the bathroom suddenly ceased and Taekwoon looked at the digital clock on the microwave across the kitchen. The bright glowing green numbers told him it had been only ten minutes since Jaehwan began speaking. Somewhere, he thinks he hears a clock chime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, this is late because I kept getting sad when I wrote it sorry (also ya girl has a lotta homework) : (


	6. Attenuate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon's heart starts to hurt.

Outbursts of emotion, Taekwoon was canny to. The change in a person that occurred after having a good cry was honestly astounding to him, and Jaehwan turned out to be no exception, since he became more intent on sticking to Taekwoon’s side after that night. The Korean man found that Jaehwan could have a calming presence when he wanted to, and pondered over whether that was another trick of his bestowed upon him from his mystical roots. Still, it became welcomed, and the pair was seeming to be joined at the hip as the days went on. Jaehwan was a helping hand in the kitchen when he was home, pressing Taekwoon to instruct him on how to cook ‘this amazing human food with its sweet and savoury taste’; the thing was that Jaehwan had to be taught how to use all kinds of utensils and Taekwoon realized he was not very observant since he hadn’t noticed Jaehwan eating with his hands for all this time. 

Warmth became akin to the feel of Jaehwan’s fingers splayed over his upper back. Home became the sound of Minyul and Jaehwan greeting him as soon as he stepped through the door with chipper voices and the clutter of a long forgotten game spread over the floor. Taekwoon allowed Minyul to press Jaehwan for more magic tricks, and soon he was also enthralled by all that the man was capable of. 

The uncle and nephew are sitting cross-legged beside the fae on this particular day. Wide and pupil- dilated eyes are fixated on the drawing of the daisy sketched on the piece of printer paper, more realistic than Taekwoon could ever hope to create. But, there was little time to be in awe of Jaehwan’s artistic skills when he was gently blowing a gust of breath over the paper from his position on the couch. Minyul’s jaw was already nearing the floor with how far it had dropped as soon as the process began, but when Jaehwan lifted his head to face the duo again, having peeled a very real daisy flower away from the paper, that was when Taekwoon was sure his face betrayed his astonishment. 

“For you!” Jaehwan explains, placing the flower in Minyul’s grabbing hands (because he was a child and had yet to learn passed the basics of politeness) so that the boy could marvel in his wonder peacefully. The asparas thinks that’s pretty fun, or, Taekwoon assumes that’s what he thinks because Jaehwan starts laughing, sending a now familiar tingling sensation building in Taekwoon’s gut. Should he get that checked out? Probably. It couldn’t be healthy for him. 

A prickling sensation over his arms alert Taekwoon to Jaehwan’s eyes now locked on his figure, and he makes eye contact with the creature even while the face reflected back at him smiles.

“And for Uncle Ta, something that I think he’ll like is…” and he trails off, back to scribbling something over the paper with the charcoal pencil Jaehwan had prompted Taekwoon into buying during one of their store-going adventures. The certainty with which Jaehwan’s hand moved unnerved Taekwoon somewhat, but this was another side of the fae he was being exposed to; he guessed he should feel grateful since he seemed to be trusted officially now. 

“There!” With great flourish,” Jaehwan’s arm raises to the air, the pencil extended in triumph. A wild look about him, Taekwoon might have thought this was what the great painters of the Renaissance were like. 

A humming noise as the fae brings the paper to his lips, repeating the gesture from before, but Taekwoon can feel the breeze over his face since they were all sitting so close to one another, and then Jaehwan is presenting to him a bed of clover and jasmine, white in colour because of course Taekwoon would refuse the pigmented pencils. They had been much too expensive, he’d reasoned with Jaehwan before coaxing the man away from the display of art supplies with the promise of food. 

“I don’t know what the flowers mean here, if it’s the same,” Jaehwan is explaining even while Taekwoon is nursing the stems of the flowers between his thumb and forefinger, “but to us, we use them to show our thoughts. I like zinnias and tulips myself,” the fae grins, “but you don’t get to know what they mean yet!”

There are still times that Taekwoon wants to smack Jaehwan. This is one of them.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

 

“Where’re my shorts.” The question is curt, more of a demand than anything else as Taekwoon glares down at the man spread over the couch, still in his cafe uniform (it was called ‘Decadence’, as Taekwoon would come to know). 

The blond man peers at the football player from where his head is resting on the couch’s armrest and his forearm is bent to cover his eyes. Taekwoon has also realized that Jaehwan could be a very good actor when he wanted to be - a dangerous skill and one that Taekwoon loathed- and he seemed to be putting his skills to the test now, because not even his eyes betrayed a hint of a smile. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” is the snide reply, and Taekwoon reminds himself that his cross-armed stance is so that he can dig his nails into the flesh of his biceps rather than the poor fabric of his shirt. The next statement is uncharacteristically nice sounding, a tone that anything who knew Taekwoon would be running as fast as they could away from once they heard it. 

“I need those shorts. They’re very good quality and I would like them back, please.” A hidden warning, because Taekwoon knew how to give warnings, but he didn’t give too many of them. 

“Did you know that they don’t call football that in America? I was watching the television and the man said something like ‘sock-her’. Why would they call it ‘sock-her’? That doesn’t have a ring to it at all,” the fae begins to ramble, ignoring the trembling of Taekwoon’s body as he fights to restrain himself.   
"Sock-her, sock-her," Jaehwan repeats maddeningly while shifting on the couch so that he was lying on his side facing Taekwoon. The man in question wished he had taken up kickboxing or some kind of mixed martial arts at this point. 

"Remember when all your socks went missing? I wonder what happened to those," the fae continues, drawing out all of Taekwoon's patience as was safely possible. "Maybe a pixie took your socks. They like to take things, pixies. They probably took your shorts, too!" 

"THAT'S IT!" There's a physical break of Taekwoon's resolve as he lunges at the man on the couch, said figure now very taken aback and he lets out an audible yell while the two topple from the couch and into the floor. It wasn't a particularly wide couch. 

Taekwoon wraps his arms around the other man, squeezing as hard as he can to try and drag the information from Jaehwan even as breathless laughter rumbles from the fae. This was not a funny situation at all. Taekwoon had payed very good money for those shorts.

“You- you’ll never take m-me alive!”Jaehwan gasps out between the heaves of intakes of air into his lungs even as his body thrashes in Taekwoon’s grip, and even though Taekwoon knows that the fae isn’t really trying, he’s surprised at the strength present in the form beneath him. He grunts, a sound not pleasant sounding, when he finally circles his legs around Jaehwan’s thighs, firmly trapping him in place. It was a technique he’d learned from an old classmate -Jiwon, a second rate hitter for the school baseball team, but who could hold his own in a fight- and it had come in handy a few times throughout his teenage life. 

Jaehwan is still struggling, but there’s not much room for him to move, and with effort, Taekwoon is able to flip over so that his chest is pressed up against the creature’s back, his arms holding Jaehwan’s behind him even as Taekwoon’s legs squeeze Jaehwan’s together. It was working apparently, because Jaehwan’s breath hitches and what Taekwoon could only describe as a yelp sounded from the figure settled above him. 

“Where… Are… My… Shorts?” Taekwoon murmurs directly into Jaehwan’s ear and the fae seems to tremble above him, no doubt from the carefully concealed threat laden in Taekwoon’s tone of voice. “I’ll count to three. One-”

The asparas remained tight- lipped, literally pursing his lips so as to not open them and Taekwoon frowns. “Two-... Are you holding your breath?”

Jaehwan was doing just that, his cheeks beginning to colour with flushed red in his effort and Taekwoon releases the asparas with concern because, well, he didn’t want the fae suffocating on his carpet. Could he suffocate? Did Taekwoon really want to find out?

There’s a gasp and Jaehwan rolls over onto his side, relishing in his newfound freedom and Taekwoon sits up straight before running a hand through his hair to try to tame it (it was becoming quite long and he would soon need to get it cut) but the moment of distraction is all the fae needs to pounce. Taekwoon is now the one who’s out of breath, lying sprawled out onto his back and spread-eagled in a way that was less than comfortable. Jaehwan arranged his limbs so that he was sitting on Taekwoon’s chest, effectively blocking the soccer player from making any further moves and an air of triumph about him.

“I might tell you where they are…” Jaehwan begins and Taekwoon’s teeth grind together even as he fixes the fae with a sharp look, “if you give me something, too.” 

Taekwoon bites back the retort that consisted of logical thinking -because they wouldn’t be in this situation if Jaehwan hadn’t taken his damn shorts, but if this was a game for the other man, then he would just back to play it- and resigned himself to his fate.

“What do you want?”   
“The key to the snack cupboard.” Taekwoon had recently installed a lock on said cabinet because Jaehwan’s sweet tooth had grown excessively over the last few months and Taekwoon was tired of coming home to crumbs all over his house and empty bags of goodies filling up his garbage can.

“Hard no.” 

“Come ooooooon!” Jaehwan cries petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing even as he pouts, his blond locks falling over his eyes as he looks down at Taekwoon from his position. “I promise I won’t overdo it like last time. Even my tummy hurt after that.” 

“Hell no.”

“You’re the worst. Why are you such an aduuuuuult?” The fae groans, feigning a collapse well enough that Taekwoon actually braces himself for impact when in actuality, Jaehwan just lowers his body so he can rest his head in the crook of Taekwoon’s neck. Interesting for sure, but Taekwoon was sure he’d been angry at the man only seconds previously. Jaehwan’s hair really was very soft, though, when it brushed up against the flesh of Taekwoon’s neck. 

Taekwoon clears his throat, arms now limp at his side because Jaehwan was making no move to pin him down. “It’s just called being human, actually. Are you going to tell me where my clothes are, or no?” 

Jaehwan peers up at the soccer player through thick black lashes, irises rimmed with the dark green that Taekwoon now knew had always been there, before he grins and rises again.

“Maybe you won’t give me the key, but maybe you’ll give me something else instead!” 

“And what would that be?”  
“A kiss, of course.”

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

 

**Excerpt From The Third Work of Han Gyeon (1625)**

_To be understood as a translation into modern speak of the 20th century. Translation as approved by professors Choi Yongmin and Kim Soyee of Korea University’s Linguistics Department and the International Circle of Korean Linguistics._

The following of hair shimmering in the sun, yet pale as moonlight as the Messenger padded on feet bare of cloth through the path of trees separating before her. A peek over the shoulder as the path closed behind the men dictating an unmarked trail through the foliage, and a bustle of friendly characters fly on fluttering wings as they have ridden the wind beside us.   
Gusts whipped the bottoms of our cloaks and grew ever steadier towards the journey’s end, for tis nothing bleary in the realms of the TreeFolk. We didst relish in our delight once given move to cease pace, Our Lady’s hand raised at her side as she was bathed in an ethereal light. Surely no man among the giall could draw their eyes from the scene as the Messenger raised her noble chin to the skyes, extending her arms in faithful gesture at the head of our party.   
A cue! Figures stepping from the greenery with the same grace as our Lady and flowers adorning their heads. Males and females, some dark and light of skin but exuding auras of some powerful type of thing. I once heard of the Magyks of distant lands- tis one and the same as the exhilarating electric sensation perforated throughout the air and extending through and past me. It was a force that shook my very core, a shock of heat and ice simultaneously which caused myself to drop to my knees from the sheer emotion coursing through my veins. No sound could come from my mouth even as the figures descended on my party and the chilling feeling of their eyes lingering on my skin would continue long after our meeting and further into the realm of dreams.   
One of the elderly with wrinkling of face and hand did take hold of my wrist, bestowing upon me an energy long forgotten from my youth as he guided me through the final barrier that would separate the man and the mysteries. I cared not for the safety of the others in the moment and no hesitation prevented my steps faltering in their way in the direction I was led.   
Bulbs of contained light floated akin to a ghostly spirit through the Field of High Grass, carrying with them the only means to see the tiny town of entities formed in the barks of trees and burrows of animal holes. Garlands and wreaths of perennials hung from branches lowered near to the ground as tangles of tinsel slithered through the peonies and daisies blossoming from the floor of the field. Phlox and salvia, coreopsis and guara, there was no end to the streams of ever growing plants stretching far into the darkness that had rapidly descended onto the little town.  
I had been wrong in my first thoughts! These were not a people that could be contained and secluded into one place, a place I was certain was of their origin, but were expanding into a world not seen before by human eyes as it had been kept hidden so deep into untread territory, protected by a seal. [ Here it is unclear whether the original author meant a seal of the Magyk he mentioned previously or if there was some method used to prevent mankind from viewing the spectacle.]  
I stumbled over my feet, a foot in my astonishment and clumsiness didst I falter so hard that I did hit the ground, jarring myself in the process. So far did my jaw fall that I feared I may catch something in my mouth, for beams of light were flowing in likeness to movements of water through the town built of mud and clay. Some homes were no larger than the palm of a hand and as high as a clay cup while others stood high into the skye as though house to a giant.  
In haste I did raise to my feet only to be ceased in my place by a hand adorned with patterns the colour of the summer heavens, those patterns dancing over the flesh in dots and lines mirroring those of the celestial beings.   
“Removestar,” a thundering voice came from everywhere at once and did put a swift end to the festivities that were taking place that night. The eyes of hundreds - thousands- of the beautifully glittering creatures turned to my party of human intruders once we were gathered together once again and surrounded by the beings whose eyes betrayed no emotion and whose skin was now all decorated with astronomical assortments of designs. It came to be that this moment I knew that the giallkind was never to amount to the same as these beings, the ones whose sizes did not depict their strength, the ones whose eyes would change colour with the time of day and the ones whose flesh reflected the wills of the Heavens itself.   
The Messenger of violet-hued eyes spoke then with a voice belonging to the goddess herself to portray the words we were meant to hear from the beginning of our journey and she beckoned for us to follow past the lines of incandescent bulbs of glimmering lights and away from the prying eyes of the folk whose territory we did intrude on. She led us with her pale arms reaching ahead toward the towering building stretching upwards towards the stars and her rouge- tinted lips moving while she only softly repeated her words- once, twice she did say them flanked at both sides as she became to be by two Guardians.   
“They will see You. They will see you.” And it did not come to pass that I would ask who ‘They’ would be, because the question would surely offend the They that would allow us safe passage home.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

 

“A-a what now?!” Taekwoon splutters, trying and failing to stay composed after the ludicrousy of Jaehwan’s request. They were both men! And maybe the country was getting a little better about that sort of stuff, but that didn’t mean that Taekwoon needed to have any part in it. No thank you. Not Taekwoon. Not the Leo of one of South Korea’s most beloved K3 Division football teams (even though there was one guy on his team who’d been pretty open about his sexuality and how he didn’t find any of his teammates ‘attractive enough to bone’, but Taekwoon wasn’t going to out him to the public, either.)

“A kiss. Isn’t that what you humans do sometimes?”

“It's what couples do sometimes,” Taekwoon corrects the fae, attempting to get over his initial shock even though that was proving a challenge.

“Couples. Pairs. Two people together,” Jaehwan starts rambling. “Like the people who come into the shop sometimes and hold hands and all that stuff?”   
“Yes, exactly.”

“Then we’re not a couple?” Jaehwan seemed legitimately perplexed and Taekwoon wasn't sure how he was going to sort this situation out. He gears himself for the round of questioning that was undoubtedly coming because this was Jaehwan he was dealing with here.

“No, not like that. Couples usually like each other in a way that isn't like friends,” he starts, forgetting all about his previous engagements. 

“But I like you and we aren't really friends, are we?”

“Erm…” No, he guessed they weren’t, but there was no defining them as a couple either. They were just… Taekwoon and Jaehwan. And Minyul, of course, but for this case, it was Taekwoon and Jaehwan. Just two guys. Two dudes. Two people with different life courses that just happened to line up at this time. But how could they define that? How could Taekwoon define the companionship that came easy with the creature living in his home, sharing his food and clothes at times, who could make Minyul laugh when Taekwoon couldn’t? How could he put a label on that that Jaehwan would understand?

Did he want to put a label on them?

“We’re more like… two peas in a pod. We exist in the same space, but we aren’t together like that,” Taekwoon settles on, going for a nature figure of speech in hopes it would resonate with Jaehwan somewhat. It didn’t seem to appease him at all, though, if the displeased expression on his face had anything to say about that. 

“I don’t like that. That sounds stupid. Two peas in a pod. So what? We get broken up by giant hands and eaten, then? Bad analgomy.”

“Analogy.” Taekwoon couldn’t stop himself from correcting the asparas, though, in hindsight, maybe he should have tried harder to. 

“Fine, then you definitely don’t get to know where your shorts are. And I hid them really good this time. Remember when Minyul took your laptop case and it took you three days to find it? I put the shorts somewhere you’ll never even think to look.” And Jaehwan looked so smug that Taekwoon was inclined to believe him.

It’s only a moment of consideration, but it’s enough to have Taekwoon questioning everything about his personality. His body stiffens underneath Jaehwan’s, one that was so light a weight on his chest that Taekwoon might think the fae to be hollow if he didn’t know any better. 

“Alright. Just, make it fast, ok?”

The look that crosses Jaehwan’s face just about made up for the actions that Taekwoon was about to go through, but maybe- definitely- there had been a tiny part of him waiting for Jaehwan to ask. To make a move of some sort, because entities above knew that Taekwoon would never have been able to do it; he didn’t have it in him to trust that much anymore. 

“Are you scared?” The fae asks in the moment where he’s leaning over Taekwoon, palms planted flat against the floor on either side of the soccer player’s head with only concern shining in his big brown eyes. “Your heart rate is getting faster, I can feel it.”

“It’s because I’m going to be in big trouble if I don’t get moving soon,” Taekwoon fires back. (It was most certainly not because he was worried about the consequences of being late and was everything to do with the fact that Jaehwan’s lips looked much plumper and softer from this angle and proximity.)

Jaehwan laughs at that, a slightly exaggerated exhale of breath that leaves a tingling sensation over Taekwoon’s cheeks because he’s that close and Taekwoon couldn’t recall having kissed a person since he was in middle school and taking AP History with a girlfriend whose name he could hardly remember because all he could see was Jaehwan right now. Jaehwan’s thighs resting over Taekwoon’s hips, his back angled now because he had to bend over to come nose to nose with the man he was straddling on the floor. Jaehwan’s hair was getting longer, falling away from his forehead to hand at the sides of his face soon to be brushing against Taekwoon because they were that close. 

Jaehwan’s lips are a little chapped. Taekwoon can feel it when their mouths meet for that fraction of a second. His lips are chapped and his lips are slightly overbearing over Taekwoon’s, but they’re warm. Jaehwan is so warm, pleasantly so. Taekwoon’s arms raise of their own accord, circling around the fae’s midsection, keeping him anchored to his position even when Jaehwan is the one to pull away. Taekwoon… didn’t want him to.

Now Taekwoon was scared. 

“Thanks!” Jaehwan chirps happily, untangling himself from the mess of limbs and ligaments that they had become on the ground and Taekwoon’s head is reeling because middle school hadn’t been like that at all and maybe Jaehwan wasn’t human, but Taekwoon didn’t think he was capable of making up an illusion like that (but he did do that thing with the smoke, so maybe he should give Jaehwan a little more credit.)   
Jaehwan stands, brushing out the wrinkles that had accumulated in his work outfit even while the holder of his contract is still trying to recover from his position on the floor.   
“Your shorts are in the ice cream tub in the freezer. Good luck.”

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

 

Trouble was brewing, and Taekwoon was its target. No time in the day was he not thinking about the tremendous mistake he had made in allowing Jaehwan to get that close to him and it was eating away at him from the inside. His mind was so preoccupied with avoiding the asparas in the days to come that the first days with the bite of frost went unnoticed to him until it took nearly fifteen minutes to warm up his car in the morning. He’d been doing such a good job of it, too, not speaking to Jaehwan. Taekwoon had the option now where he could lock himself away in his room for periods of time, because with the time passing in the school year, Minyul wasn’t rejecting the extra tutoring sessions after school; especially since the child could do them with his friends. No, his nephew was well looked after, but Taekwoon was growing more anxious. The worst part was that he hardly knew what he was anxious about.

“She broke it off, huh?” Jinsoo pondered aloud when they were weaving their way around orange cones that stood out painfully against the fluorescent green of the turf in their football field. 

“Who broke what off?”

“The girl you’ve been seeing. C’mon, you don’t have to worry. Even the guys noticed you looked happier lately, then all of a sudden you’re back to this shit? Brooding like some emo teen in high school whose parents just don’t understand him?” Jinsoo was striking nerves that Taekwoon didn’t think he had anymore, and the irritation he felt was completely out of character for him, so why was he letting Jinsoo get to him like this? Harmless banter without any truth to it was what it was, and Taekwoon had nothing at all to be apprehensive about. There was no woman in his life he was dedicated to, but maybe he could play this up.

“Yeah, my love life isn’t that great lately,” he admits. It’s a half- truth, because he wasn’t going out of his way to change his single status, but now he was… busy… with other things. 

“No shit. I totally didn’t get that vibe,” Jinsoo’s sarcasm seeps from his tone, yet the smug look on his face remained because Jinsoo liked to be right about things. “So, tell me, what was she like? How you gonna fight for her?”

“Ok, listen. Theoretically,” and Taekwoon pauses mid-pass, “why would I want to chase someone who doesn’t want to be with me? What’s the point in that if we can both find people better suited to our lives? Ever think about that?”

“Leo, my man.” And Jinsoo tosses a marker over to his teammate from the black duffel bag on the side of the field so that Taekwoon can place it in the right position. “Women are fickle. They like to be chased. Held, squeezed and admired.” And here he does something that Taekwoon detests and takes himself by the arms, as if he were hugging another body to him, Jinsoo making a kissy face at the scowling Taekwoon from his position a few yards away. “I can’t believe you don’t know even the most basic of human emotions.”

“What if I don’t want a woman like that?”

“Then maybe you’re not looking for a woman.” And Jinsoo says it so nonchalantly that Taekwoon wonders if that even is an option for him. His silence must have sparked something, because suddenly Jinsoo is looking at him with an expression of mixed concern and surprise. 

“It was that guy in the locker room, wasn’t it.” It’s not a question, and the fear that Taekwoon had been feeling for weeks was welling up so quickly and ferociously in his chest that he thought it might burst. In horror, Taekwoon realizes that his eyes are watering. He’s never seen Jinsoo move so fast, because the next thing he knows, he’s hearing their coach yelling something from down the field, Jinsoo is yelling back, then Taekwoon and his friend are alone in the players’ quarters. Taekwoon can’t stop himself now, when he starts sobbing into his practice jersey, ugly and jerking his body while Jinsoo rubs his back soothingly. Taekwoon had never been more thankful to have the playboy as a companion than in that moment, because Taekwoon was so used to being the pillar of strength (for his teammates. For his family. For Minyul) that maybe this had been building for so much longer than a few weeks. Maybe it just took Jaehwan coming into his life for Taekwoon to realize that the world was very big and Taekwoon was not invincible. 

When he comes down from the panic that overtook him, Jinsoo is there with a water bottle and Taekwoon is grateful, because his throat felt very sore and he was suddenly so tired. So tired.

“I told coach you weren’t doing so hot, and I guess he believed it, ‘cause you got real pale real quick,” Jinsoo is murmuring to him. Taekwoon takes a swig from the water bottle, the icy cold chill bringing relief to the stinging of his body so fast that Taekwoon feels it settle in his stomach.

“You care about him, then.” Jinsoo is really pressing. He always had been in the serious situations, when Taekwoon didn’t allow himself to come to terms with his feelings. _They’re what make you human_ , Jinsoo had told him once, Taekwoon scoffing at the old ideology, but it was really speaking to him now. 

“I don’t-” Taekwoon’s voice cracks and he clears his throat to try and alleviate the aftereffects of his emotional outburst. “I don’t know,” he clarifies. Perhaps that was the reason he was so affected. Taekwoon didn’t know. Feelings should be clear and decisive. When his sister passed, Taekwoon had been broken. He knew that feeling. When he’d been accepted into the K-3 Division, he’d been elated, so he knew that feeling. As soon as Jaehwan appeared, he was afraid. Taekwoon knew fear. It was the bristling of hairs on the back of his neck and the momentary bodily freeze that came with being shocked, yet it wasn’t that way now. Now, all Taekwoon could do was hide away in his bedroom in hopes the thing that scared him would leave, but knowing that it wouldn’t. He knew that it would knock on his door and ask if he was doing alright, and Taekwoon was not doing alright. He was doing the exact opposite of alright.

He buried his face in his hands, refusing to look at Jinsoo because Jinsoo could see right through him when he wanted to. 

“I think you do know.”

Taekwoon knew. That’s why he was so afraid.


	7. Neophyte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon starts crawling his way out of his den of self- pity.

“Why are you ignoring me?” Comes the plea, so soft in its execution and devoid of any teasing, which is how Taekwoon knows that he’s taken this a bit too far.

“I’m not,” he tries to reconcile even while refusing to bring his eyes up from the screen of his laptop where some breaking news highlights were flashing from a website he’d been browsing. He liked knowing what was going on in the city around him, after all.

“You are. You didn’t even notice the latte.”

Taekwoon perked up at that, his interest piqued, because if there was anything he liked more than having a day to do nothing at all, it was having a latte to go along with it. Sure enough, there was a cup of something sitting on the table where, if Taekwoon’s mind were not otherwise occupied, he might have seen it earlier on in the day along with the small note with his name in italics beside the styrofoam. 

“O-oh,” is his lame reply, and his head raises a fraction, only enough that he can see the crestfallen expression on Jaehwan’s face from the lackluster response. To be fair, Taekwoon thought Jaehwan was going to be longer at work that day, which was the only reason he’d bothered to set himself up in the dining room anyway, but Jaehwan was home earlier than usual, and Taekwoon hadn’t had the time to take cover. 

He knew this confrontation was inevitable, he’d just hoped he would have had a bit more time to prepare for it. Taekwoon closes the lid of the laptop slowly, extinguishing the blue sheen of light previously radiating from the device so that he can sit back in his seat and regard Jaehwan head on. Since the incident at the field, Taekwoon had been taking more effort to shy away from the fae, because emotions were complicated things and the football player had more simple tastes. 

“I’m s-”

“Did I do something wrong?” Jaehwan interjects before Taekwoon can give his apology -one that was sincere, mind you, and was building up so that he could actually say it out loud- and there’s a crack in Jaehwan’s voice that has Taekwoon feeling like even more of an ass than before. And he’d felt quite a lot like an asshole before. 

“Do you want me to… Do you want me to leave? I don’t know if I can, really, but I can try.” The asparas is standing forlornly by the doorway that would lead into the living room, his hands clasped behind his back and his shoulders hunched, making him seem so much smaller than he actually was. Taekwoon remembered a time when he’d come across a dog that had been beaten by its previous owner, the distrust in its eyes when he’d tried to pet it and how hurt it had been. This was different and the same, because Jaehwan had shared part of his past with Taekwoon, and now his contract holder seemed to be betraying him. 

Silence continued to lay heavy over the room and Taekwoon became aware that the faucet from the sink was leaking into the dirty dishes left from that morning. It dripped, dripped, and Jaehwan was coming ever closer to a panic as Taekwoon’s mind scrambled frantically to find the proper wording for what he wanted the fae to hear.

“I want you to stay, Jaehwan. You make my life easier,” is what his brain was screaming, but that sounded corny even in the relative peace of Taekwoon’s inner self. 

“Don’t go. I want to try that latte. And what would Minyul do without your stories at night? What were you telling him about before? The Grasslands?”

Jaehwan’s expression lightens up somewhat, Taekwoon taking that as a good sign and he graciously takes the cup the asparas hands to him. It’s not hot at this point, only warm, the temperature being an indication of just how long Jaehwan had been waiting for Taekwoon to speak. Sure, he might be able to come to terms with his emotions with a trusted friend by his side to guide him, but admitting Taekwoon’s developing feelings to the object of his affections was a hard no.

“It was the name of the place I lived at. It wasn’t all literally grass, but I can’t think of a better way to say it in the _giall_ language. Because some of us can get to be pretty small- like me, I’m one of the small types- we usually make small things our places, and the tall grasses are like trees. But, when you’re really tiny, even bugs and stuff look big, so I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal.” Jaehwan shrugs, leaning with his hip resting against the island edge as if the world he was describing was just like Taekwoon’s. Taekwoon thought Jaehwan was leaps ahead of him. 

(Is that why this was so hard? Jaehwan and Taekwoon were realms apart. They would never be on the same wavelength. Taekwoon could reach out now if he so wished and physically grasp the blond man, but their lives were hardly similar.)

“Did you like it? The Grasslands?” He finds himself asking, sipping on the familiar bitter flavour that always accompanied coffee- there was an undertone of something, though… almond? Hazelnut?- and Taekwoon relished in it. 

Jaehwan shrugs. “It was ok. This place is actually more exciting. More stuff happening. Even just at the cafe, there are so many different types of people I can’t really tell who’s going to come in and mess shit up.” 

“I find it hard to believe that everyone from where you’re from is totally alike. Minyul was going on about the ‘birdman with silver feet’ if I remember correctly,” Taekwoon added, allowing himself to become immersed in their conversation. It wasn’t necessary for him to think too much right now. He could learn more about Jaehwan. He wanted to learn more about Jaehwan. Jaehwan was an enigma. 

“That story wasn’t even interesting,” Jaehwan tries to reason, the portrayal of something dismal with the way he was slumping in his position. Taekwoon wondered why he did that. There were probably different types of etiquette where the fae was from- things that were the norm where Taekwoon would fail miserably and end up coming off as rude.  
“I was interested,” Taekwoon urges, setting his cup on the table and sitting up in his chair. He slides his laptop to the side so it was out of the way but not in danger of falling to the floor. That would really suck, a small part of his mind was telling itself. 

Jaehwan’s expression turns sour, and Taekwoon is caught off guard. “Oh really? Because I couldn’t tell from all the sneaking around you’ve been doing. When was the last time we had a conversation? You know, face to face? Couple of weeks?” 

Was he… Angry? Taekwoon may have been fooling himself this whole time, but Jaehwan didn’t seem to have the type of character that was one to become angry. Remember Taekwoon, anger is a secondary emotion. What does it usually follow? Hurt? Disappointment? Sadness?

“I-I’m sorry,” the soccer player stammers, the casual yet sudden changes in Jaehwan’s demeanor causing him confusion. Never had he met someone whose personality could change at the flip of a coin. This never happened when Jaehwan was around Minyul.

(Said child was at school, as it was only currently hitting the cusp of the afternoon and Taekwoon’s morning had been filled with the lull of deep sleep and indie music after he had dropped Minyul off.)

“Hmph.” If there was something Taekwoon knew, and Taekwoon would admit to not knowing very much at all because he’d never gone to college -that was the excuse he gave, at least- he knew that Jaehwan always had something to say. 

“Jaehwan… I can’t read your mind-”

“Oh, I _fucking_ know that all right.”

“Language.”

“Fuck you.”

That was hostile. Overly so? Taekwoon would argue yes. And they had been having such a pleasant conversation, too. Why couldn’t Jaehwan have just told him about the goddamn silver-footed man?

“You know what? Actually, fuck you. I’ve tried to talk to you for how long? Trying to figure out why you suddenly started hating me so much? What was the trigger for you, huh? Me telling you all that shit and then you start treating me like I’m a piece of furniture?” Jaehwan slams his palms down onto the table, startling Taekwoon to the point that he jumps in his seat. Jaehwan doesn’t look human at the moment. Jaehwan looks like a cornered wild animal that was ready to pounce, and Taekwoon was very aware that he was instigator in this scenario. 

“Sometimes you just piss me off. I’m trying! I’m trying. I have been _trying_ so hard- harder than I ever have in my life, actually- to get you to like me, even just a little bit, and I thought that if I opened up to you, hey, maybe you would fucking understand. Gimme a little bit of room in your heart. That’s all I wanted. Just… Just a little bit of room.” The asparas looks drained from his outburst; there are purple rings of exhaustion beginning to hang from his eyes. Had they been there before? Taekwoon would have noticed if they were, right?

The silence he’d enjoyed before was now hanging heavy in the room. Taekwoon was drowning in it, suffocated. Words couldn’t form in such a stifling atmosphere, and this was all the fae’s doing. This was what he’d hoped to avoid, because the next step was the hardest. The step where he had to make a decision. 

“I do.. I do like you, Jaehwan. Did you know that I could hardly bring myself to do anything before you got here? If I wasn’t with Minyul or I wasn’t on the field, there was nothing to my life. It was just… empty.” It felt good to say out loud. The reality of Taekwoon’s situation was that he had two public labels and that was what people saw. He was the doting father and the professional player, but when it came to him personally, in the confines of his home, Taekwoon had felt like nothing at all. Going from day to day was monotonous and routine, safe and secure, but so boring and dull at the same time. “I guess…” and he has to pause here and focus on the point passed Jaehwan’s neck where the corner of the island was visible before an open space in the room. “If I didn’t have Minyul before, I might not even be here right now. I had nothing else to live for, anyway. But then-” and he gestures vaguely to the form across the table, standing with a slowly opening mouth (shock) seemingly transfixed. 

“Then I came around, and now you have two things to look after?” Did Jaehwan really need the confirmation? Taekwoon took one glance at the elation blossoming over the fae’s face and figured that he didn’t, but he could humour the man anyway.

“Perhaps.” That seems to be enough. The island trembles with the force of Jaehwan’ movements as he pushes himself away from it, grinning foolishly, and Taekwoon knew that he’d been rightly pleased. At least, for the moment. 

When Jaehwan finally leaves the room, Taekwoon is left to ponder. In his head, it is methodical, and it always had been. His father once told him that he would be a good investigator, and Taekwoon had scoffed, because he was terrible at reading people. Jaehwan was proof of that. The only problem was that the evaluative side of him, the right side brain of his, was having trouble understanding why his heart had begun racing when Jaehwan had smiled from Taekwoon’s confession. Confusion was the only real thing that Taekwoon found himself relating to lately. Confusion, and the urge to bang his head against a wall hard.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

Taekwoon is greeted by petunias. Loads and loads of petunias. The flood his car in every nook and cranny as though they weren’t a nuisance. He notices the colour pattern. Purple, blue, white, red. Strange. The red seemed so out of place that they almost hurt to look at when mixed with the soothing shades of the others. 

Taekwoon stands there, gaping, at the loads of petunias while Jinsoo laughs himself into near tears beside him. The darkness of the night cannot mask the brightness of the flora as they sway gently with the breeze of the evening. Taekwoon’s fists cling tighter to the bag he was carrying, the one with all of his practice equipment stored inside, as he gazes silently at the mess that was his car. 

“Th-this is p-probably the worst, the _worst_  
c-courting ritual I’ve e-ever seen,” Jinsoo splutters, the words not coming out properly because of his inhibited state. “This is like, this is like something out of a drama, man. H-how many pounds of flowers you think that is? Fifty?” Jinsoo is almost howling, and Taekwoon doesn’t have the energy to chastise him because he’s too busy trying to reel in his emotions. He’s counting back from 10-

“Is this from that guy?”

9-

“The one from th-the game?”

8-

“Well, I’m glad he’s not shy.”

7-

“You need someone like that.”

6-

“Someone who can actually make a goddamn move.”

5-

“When was the last time you went on a date? High school?”

4-

“Still… Flowers! At least it’s gonna smell good in there for the next few years.”

3-

“But, how’re we gonna get home?”

3 will have to do. Taekwoon lets out a long breath and stabilizes himself, dropping his bag to the ground as Jinsoo watches him with an amused smile. The football player cracks his knuckles, planning on burying them deep into the petunias and ripping them apart so that their leaves and petals riddle the pavement beside his parking spot like gore.  
Jinsoo stops him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude. That had t’ have taken a lot of time. And effort! Didn’t know you’d already given the guy a spare key to your car, though. Things must be going pretty good for you, huh, champ?”

“I hate you and your droopy eyes,” Taekwoon snarls, and Jinsoo raises his hands in mock surrender. 

“Don’t hate me just because I speak the truth you don’t wanna hear. Anyway. Maybe we could just, I dunno, hand ‘em out. Or push them to the side a bit. Looks like if we squeeze them to the back, we could both fit in the front. Alright?”

With reluctance, Taekwoon nods and brushes the sleeves of his shirt up his arms. It takes them nearly ten minutes to create a space that made it possible for Taekwoon to drive, and if the leaves of the flowers got shoved into Jinsoo’s pants, he didn’t remark on it. It was Taekwoon’s turn that night to drive. His friend’s home was a right bit away from his, but the extra time had never come at a cost to him before. Now, Taekwoon was sure that he was red in the face and that Jinsoo was never going to let this little incident go.  
And then it started to rain. With the clouds in the sky came the threat of a rainfall, but they’d been lucky through practice. Now, it was only serving to dampen his spirits even more. 

Sensing Taekwoon’s impending breakdown, Jinsoo rubs his friend on the back to ease some of his tension.

“Hey, I was just teasing. No one else saw, either, and I’m not gonna rat you out. Even if I know that the rest of the guys would be totally messed up knowing you’ve got an admirer.” Jinsoo grins. “Or even that you could have feelings for someone. And someone who leaves you flowers at that! It’s actually kinda cute. If a girl left me flowers, I don’t even know what I’d do. I might have a heart attack! Just marry her on the spot! Ah-” Jinsoo falls back into his seat, clutching at his chest in mock wonderment. “If only I had someone like that.”

Taekwoon starts up the car, putting the heat on full blast to warm it up faster.

“I had a crush once, and whenever she texted me, I had to lie in bed and scream into a pillow because I liked her so much. So embarrassing,” Jinsoo groans. “But I felt so giddy about it, y’know? She didn’t end up liking me back and I haven’t talked to her in a few years, but I remember that feeling. Do you ever get that feeling?”  
“Every time I score a goal.”

“Will you shut up and be sentimental with me for just one fucking minute, Leo? You’re allowed to have feelings.”  
“Yeah.” But Taekwoon’s tone is doubtful, and Jinsoo frowns at his friend. 

“OK, what’s it that’s really bothering you. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying, too, so don’t try it.” And Taekwoon hates the pity that his teammate is showing him. Or maybe he was mad because he knew Jinsoo actually gave a damn about his well being and. Taekwoon was tired of being treated like a ticking time bomb.  
His silence spurred Jinsoo onward. “You’re both guys. I get it. You’re weirded out. I don’t get it myself, but I’m not the one who likes him. That’s you.”

“I know!” Taekwoon bursts, planting his hands hard on the wheel and scaring himself as the horn goes off. “I know. OK. I just…”

“Just what?”

“I don’t know how. How to act around him. Minyul… Minyul really likes him. They get along really good. Jaehwan’s watching him right now. He  
to watch Minyul and I know he did because he actually likes playing with him and telling the kid stories and Minyul loves when Jaehwan is around,” Taekwoon gulps. “Am I being replaced?”

There’s silence in the car for a moment save for the hum of the motor.

“You’re so stupid.”

“Excuse me?” Baffled, Taekwoon turns to look at Jinsoo, who’s staring back at him with absolute conviction.

“You’ve spent so much time worrying that now you’re starting to resent what you’re feeling. You like him, yes. You like that he likes you, yes. You hate that Minyul might like to be around him because you’re his dad and you want to have him all to yourse-”

“No!”

“Yes! You don’t know how to act with Jaehwan because you actually hate having other people around your son. You don't like that there are other people you can make him happy because he’s all you’ve got right now really and you don’t want to be left alone. Am I right, or not?”

Taekwoon had never seen Jinsoo this frustrated. Brink of angry, he would say. Taekwoon slunk back a bit from the furious vibe his friend was giving off. 

“Will you just let yourself be happy for once in your miserable life? Shutting yourself away isn’t helping anyone. Least of all, you.”

Jinsoo was right- again. Taekwoon felt like a coward. 

“So, you’re gonna put on your big boy pants and tell him how you feel tomorrow.” Jinsoo crosses his arms. 

“I’m going to what now?”

“I said you’re going to stop being a little bitch and tell him how you feel. You know, after you guys do whatever you’re going to do tonight when you get back home.” 

If Jinsoo winks, Taekwoon doesn’t see it. He just puts his car into drive and tries to get Jinsoo out of his car as soon as he can. Now, if his friend would stop smirking so snidely in his seat, that would make Taekwoon feel a lot better.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“Jaehwan! WHAT THE…Heck..?” Taekwoon blinks in surprise when he bursts through the door of his apartment and is greeted by the sight before him. Minyul is sitting in Jaehwan’s lap on the couch, nestled comfortably in the crook of the fae’s neck. Jaehwan is asleep. The rise and fall of his chest is even and steady and Taekwoon’s bubble of annoyance begins to deflate. Minhyul had jumped slightly when the door opened, but had blinked sleepily at his uncle before giving him a groggy smile and going right back to his nap. Except it was getting late, so maybe this was going to be bedtime. Which was going to be a nightmare later as there was no way Minyul wasn’t going to wake up at some point in the early morning if he was already sleeping now. 

The door creaks shut as it swings closed behind him. Taekwoon is still, standing with his bag over his shoulder as he drinks in the scene. It was so… domestic. It almost pained him. Taekwoon suddenly feels the weight of his waterlogged sweater dragging on his back, and with some disgust brought on by the feeling, he makes his way around the pair and to the washroom. 

It was quiet in there. The face that stared back at him in the mirror seemed confused. With this constant back and forth of fury and fascination, Taekwoon felt as though his entire being was being manhandled by his emotions. He’d forgotten to lock the front door, he recalled when he finished showering. He felt a lot better then. Refreshed. 

Towel slung tight around his hips, Taekwoon is still silent as he pads throughout the apartment suite, gathering clothes from his room and preparing Minyul’s bed. Eight was a good time to put Minyul to sleep, he told himself. It’s not until he’s standing back in front of the two on the couch that he realizes just how little he actually wanted to pry the boy out of Jaehwan’s arms. They looked so content that it felt like a crime to separate them. The uncle recalled the times Minyul would cling to him in utter desperation in the night, holding onto his father figure as though he was afraid Taekwoon would disappear into the darkness. Minyul looked so much happier now. Less burdened. 

Thankfully, or maybe because he had some kind of sixth sense that told him when he was being stared at, Jaehwan’s eyes flickered open. The football player’s breath hitched in his throat with the soft smile that was sent his way by the asparas, and a twinkle of mischief became present in the fae’s eyes, but then he shifted in place. 

“Sorry. We were watching movies and I guess we fell asleep,” Jaehwan mumbles sheepishly and with a tender look at the small boy. He surrenders the child to Taekwoon, who tries not to jostle his nephew too much as he lifts Minyul from his position. 

“D-don’t worry about it.” Taekwoon shakes his head, black bangs still slowly dripping from the shower. (The blow dryer would have been too loud to turn on.) “But you and I,” and he fixed Jaehwan with a hard stare now, “need to have a conversation tomorrow.”

There’s a sneaking suspicion that Jaehwan knows exactly what he’s talking about with the delight apparent in his expression. 

“Aren’t they pretty? I thought you’d like them,” he mutters, sitting up and rubbing his eyes now that he was free of the toddler. “Petuniaaaas,” Jaehwan yawns, drawing out the word without meaning to. “Petunias are special to me, too. There were a lot where I’m from. They grow in bunches, like people. All different colours and meanings. They make good beds.”

“I think you should go to bed,” Taekwoon prompts lightly. “Properly. I’ll get you another blanket.” He’d eyed the one that fell onto the floor, seeing that it was starting to become frayed around the edges. 

“Mmm, thanks.” Jaehwan’s honey-coloured hair waves around his face now, framing it delicately. Jaehwan looked delicate. Taekwoon figured that he wasn’t one to leave delicate things with. He broke things pretty easily. 

“Y-eah,” and Taekwoon puts his nephew to sleep comfortably in the boy’s own bed, pressing a kiss to the child’s forehead as he nuzzled against his pillow. Minyul was breakable, too, Taekwoon, thought. And so was he. So what happened when, tomorrow, he couldn’t escape Jinsoo’s instructions and he confessed to Jaehwan? What if he’d been reading Jaehwan all wrong? Taekwoon felt like he might be the one breaking then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is late. I hope everyone had a good holidays~


	8. Calefaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon learns what it's like to be in a heated state.

He feels as though he is suffocating. Panic wakes Taekwoon along with the overwhelming warmth that surrounds him. For the most part, it’s soft. Cushioned. Plush. His limbs flail as he tries to free himself of the confines of his blanket nest, the one he’d inadvertently created for himself and entrapped himself in sometime in the night. He fought for a breath of fresh air, and when it finally came, he gulped it in so quickly that his natural bodily reaction was to immediately begin coughing it back out. This was not turning out to be his morning. 

Just as he was coming back to himself, the blare of his alarm began sounding -6:00 on the dot- and Taekwoon resigned himself to his fate for that day. It was just going to be a bad one. He’d had bad days before, though. Nearly smothering himself in his own bed didn’t even make it near the top of the list, and now that he wasn’t suffering from asphyxiation, his shock-riddled body was shaking with adrenaline. That was, until he remembered what he’d promised Jinsoo he would do the night before. Suddenly, Taekwoon thought that he should try tangling himself in the cotton sheets again. 

His dark thoughts are broken by the pad of light footsteps from the room over. That was the indication that Minyul’s own alarm was going off, which meant that Taekwoon had no time to brace himself. Duties as a parent came first anyway, so there would be no time to sit down with Jaehwan until after Taekwoon had dropped his nephew off for the day. 

No matter how awful he might have felt before, seeing his nephew always brought a smile to Taekwoon’s face. The groggy child was still rubbing his eyes even has he waddled from his room into the hallway to say good morning to his uncle. A yawn broke through his greeting, and Taekwoon stooped to bring the boy into his arms for a hug. 

Minyul allowed Taekwoon’s hold for a solid five seconds before he began to wriggle about. Oh well. It was five seconds well savoured of familiarity until Taekwoon would be delving into the depths of the unknown. His own psyche. 

Pat, pat, pat go the tiny feet into the washroom, and Taekwoon thinks that Minyul is starting to look even more like his mother. It was the nose, Taekwoon decided as he rose to full height again. The nose and the face shape. It was why Minyul didn't look very much like his uncle apart from his high-set eyes. 

Grunting in satisfaction, Taekwoon rolls his shoulders and stretches his arms over his head, trying to lessen the aches and pains that always came after a late night scrimmage. His team was doing so well over the season that they were hoping for a record, breaking number of goals. That was something to look forward to. Taekwoon was part of something that people enjoyed. People came together from all walks of life to participate in the cheering and watching of the games he played in. That should bring him pleasure enough. 

Still, his longing to hold onto something- to have something of his own- was a weight that rested heavy on his shoulders. Jaehwan’s presence reminded Taekwoon of something else. He wasn't getting any younger. When Minyul was grown and away with his own family, Taekwoon would most likely fall into himself. It was a future he hadn't given much thought to because it hurt too badly to imagine. Taekwoon needed something to hold on to.  
Or, someone. 

The usual morning routine goes by without incident. Taekwoon doesn't see Jaehwan sprawled across the couch like he was on the days when he didn't work. So, he'd gotten the early shift. It meant that Jaehwan would be back home before Taekwoon could pick Minyul up from school. It meant that Taekwoon had no excuse to run away from Jaehwan. It meant Jinsoo would undoubtedly call at some point in time falling in the next few hours to try and alleviate the pressures Taekwoon felt. 

He tries to watch the television. He tries to read a book. He tries to interact with a team on League of Legends. Nothing was calming the anxiety that he could feel was trying to take him over. Everything around him was silent, but too loud. His skin was crawling, but it was only the plush pillows of the sofa making contact with his bare flesh. The clock ticked. Every minute was getting closer to when Jaehwan would be back. When Taekwoon would have to confront him. The lump in his throat only grew larger and larger. 

One hour passes. Then two. By the third, Taekwoon is texting Jinsoo frantically. 

[SMS: Jinnie-yah] I don’t think I can do this.  
[SMS: incoming] If you don’t I will strangle you.  
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] This is a bad idea.  
[SMS: incoming] STRANGLE, TAEKWOON. If I have to deal with your sorry ass all day tomorrow, I will STRANGLE YOU.

OK, so that didn’t go as well as Taekwoon had hoped. 

The fourth hour passes. In two hours, he has to get Minyul from school. In half an hour, Jaehwan gets off of his shift. It takes Jaehwan around ten minutes to walk back to the apartment. Taekwoon internally curses himself for having an apartment in a district where so many places were within walking distance, but perhaps that was a curse of population.

Jaehwan is going to be off in half an hour. Taekwoon brushes his teeth.  
Taekwoon is going to be off in fifteen minutes. Taekwoon starts to tidy up the living room. Where were all of these DVDs coming from?  
Jaehwan is going to be off in five minutes. Taekwoon puts the blanket and pillow Jaehwan had been using to sleep on in the washing machine and sets up some new linens. The den was looking more like a bedroom every day. Inconvenient. Jaehwan should just sleep in his room.   
Jaehwan will be back home in approximately ten minutes. Taekwoon puts the kettle on to make himself some peppermint tea, because the smell had a calming effect and he could hear his heart thundering in his ears. Was that his blood rushing through his veins making his shake so violently? That couldn’t be healthy.  
Five minutes. Taekwoon sets his cup down.  
Four. Jaehwan has a cup, too. Did Jaehwan like mint tea? Had Taekwoon ever asked him?

The turn of the key in the lock for the front door alerts Taekwoon to the man entering into the home. No. No. It was too early. He didn’t know what he was going to say. He hadn’t had time to figure it out. (He’d had lots of time. Hours of time.)

“I’m hooooome~!” Taekwoon swears that the sing-song voice causes waves in the fabric of time and space itself, because it physically jars him. He peeks around the corner from the kitchen into the living room, watching as Jaehwan kicks off his shoes at the door and places them neatly to the side by the small coat closet next to the front door. Taekwoon knew Jaehwan did that because Taekwoon had asked him to. 

“Hey. You OK?” How long had Jaehwan been staring at him for? When did Taekwoon move into the den was a better question. No matter. He was there- not three feet from the fae, who was looking the pinnacle of human with his black button down and tight fitting black jeans- urging whatever that was trying to form in himself to just get itself out already. Because, wow, it was actually starting to really ache, bottling this all up. 

His heart is pounding, pounding POUNDING, the erratic throbbing inside his chest leaping up into his throat to cause the words that are trying to form to come out in a strangled gurgle. This was not good. This was the opposite of good. Taekwoon is an adult with a career and a home and a car but he wasn't even able to manage telling the object of his affections about his own emotions. He felt pathetic, and Jaehwan was only looking at him with concern. The fae’s kind, warm brown eyes stung Taekwoon with their gaze. God, what if Jaehwan just ended up pitying him? Him and his stupid human emotions. Taekwoon’s hands balled into fists at his sides, his fingernails digging sharply into the tender flesh of his palms. That should hurt, but it was bringing him an odd comfort. 

“I-I…” he begins, taking a steadying, broken breath to quell his rising panic. “I care. About… about you. A lot.” I can't stop thinking about you. You're always on my mind. You make me feel so much better just by being with me. Don't leave. Taekwoon didn't want Jaehwan to leave. If his soothing presence was just the false allure of his magic, Taekwoon couldn't find it in himself to give a fuck. 

His eyes were pleading with Jaehwan. It was the asparas’ turn to be shocked now, though. His plush lips gaped, slowly opening and closing, like he wanted to speak but there was nothing he could say. With every passing second, Taekwoon’s regret built. His eyes started to sting. He needed to leave. 

“Sorry! Sorry. Forget it. Forget I said anything, just-!” Taekwoon tore himself away, and as he moved to escape the room whose walls were closing in on him, he felt like he was being ripped from the inside out. A monster in his chest was growing. It was gaining power and momentum, and clawing at everything in its wake. 

So. This was heartbreak.

 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

 

He left the apartment. The air felt so much fresher outside, even if the stench of car exhaust assaulted his nose relentlessly when he first stepped foot outside the building. It was busy. The middle of the day, but it was so busy, with people mingling and running about. They all had places to go. Taekwoon didn’t know where he wanted to go. He started letting his feet take him where they wanted to go. 

With his hands shoved into his pockets, Taekwoon tried not to seem lost. He felt lost, even if his surroundings were familiar and comfortable. He felt a sense of loss. Was that different from feeling lost? He’d felt loss before. This was different. There was nothing all- consuming about this. More like… something he’d been looking for, he’d retrieved, only to have it taken away from him again. Wistfulness.

A jacket would be nice. The threadbare sweater he was wearing was warm enough when he was at home because he only wore it at home, but its fraying edges were doing nothing to keep his internal temperature up. There’s a large building with flashing lights indicating that it was open for the day. He ducks inside.

Usually, the noise that accompanies large groups of people annoyed him save for a cheering crowd of fans, but the cacophony surrounding him at the moment wasn’t deafening. It was dulled. Taekwoon pauses to try and reason why that might be, but his mind is blank. Nothing was happening. He was deadened. 

Wandering through the maze of halls goes on for some time. Or, maybe he loses track of time. It was no matter. The timer on his phone goes off, and it alarms him, because Taekwoon didn’t know his phone had been in his pocket. This was turning into a very bad day for him. 

He had to rush. Because Minyul snapped him from his dark thoughts and prompted him to the caregiver that he was supposed to be. That he HAD to be. Taekwoon was a fool to think he could be part of anything else. Two titles were all he needed. Uncle. Leo. Those were the only two he needed. Or, that was what he reasoned with himself as he sprinted his way back towards his apartment building and scrambled toward his car. (there was a period of time where he panicked, because he was sure his keys were still in the suite, but his calculative mind had done him a favour by placing his keys in his front pocket. Cautious Taekwoon. It was preventing him from living, his mother always told him.)

Things were blurry. Blurred around the edges. He was aware of the things he was doing; that he was moving. That he was affecting time and space with his physical assault, but muted. It was muted. Taekwoon felt muted. 

Minyul notices. Minyul notices right away, when he enters the car and Taekwoon puts him in his car seat and he looks up at his uncle and puts his little palm against Taekwoon’s face. Almost like he was asking:

Are you tired? 

Yes, he was tired, but Taekwoon was going to be OK. He had to be. He always had to be. So, he smiles at Minyul and asks his almost-son how the kid’s day was because he hoped it was good. Minyul deserved the good things, at least.

The problem was that he had to go back to the apartment. Where Jaehwan was undoubtedly situated. And Taekwoon really did NOT want to to that at the moment. So, he stops with Minyul to get a snack at a street vendor who’s selling tteokbokki. He parks his car and they enter the mall that Taekwoon had been previously wandering. Minyul asks if he can get a toy, and who is Taekwoon to say ‘no’? Minyul deserved that, at least. 

Minyul is the one who wants to go home first. Taekwoon grabs the plastic bag with the kid’s new toy in his one hand and holds on dearly to his beloved nephew with the other as they leave the complex; and Taekwoon is glad for the constant flow of traffic, because no shop owner gives him the evil eye as they leave, even if he was sure that the employees recognize him from before. He nodded to their professionalism. 

Wow, he was really dreading this. Now that everything was back in motion, things were blurring by too fast. Quicksand. He was trapped in quicksand, and the lethargy set foot in his limbs so that his legs dragged. Minyul was a vibrating ball of energy who hopped in place, his little body shaking with the force of all the pent up energy he saved throughout the day. Minyul even kicked his legs out while he was strapped into his car seat, humming contentedly to himself in a way that Taekwoon wished he could. Who knew, maybe the child would distract Jaehwan for a while. The soccer player could only hope. Or move. He could also move. (It is only later that Taekwoon realizes that this is a terrible idea, since Jaehwan would be obligated to move right along with him. Contracts are a funny thing.)

There is no Jaehwan in sight when Taekwoon and Minyul enter the apartment. Taekwoon shook the key in the lock before they entered so that the fae would know they were coming home- something that was probably unnecessary since Minyul was being loud enough for the both of them. Briefly, Taekwoon pondered over what could have his nephew so excited before chalking it up to having a good week’s worth of sleep. 

Too quiet. The rest of the evening is too quiet. Minyul chatters and Taekwoon nods his head while his nephew goes on and on about the antics one of his friends got into that day by sticking the butt-end of his pencil up his nose, and Taekwoon laughs at the appropriate moments, but his mind keeps wandering. Where did Jaehwan go? Where would he go? As far as Taekwoon knew, the fae knew very little about the city beyond the cafe he worked at, so where would he go? 

Minyul is getting ready for bed, now. His stomach is full and he’s talked for so long that he yawns every minute, and Taekwoon knows that it’s time for him to sleep even with the early hour. It was possible the kid was feeling Taekwoon’s own exhaustion, too. He felt as though he could sleep for a week, though, it was likely sleep would evade him for that night from the sheer embarrassment he felt. Foolish of him to think he’d be accepted so easily. Life wasn’t like that. Wasn’t easy. 

“Uncle Ta? Where’s Whannie?” Minyul asks him later, when Taekwoon is tucking the sheets of his nephew’s blankets up so that he wouldn’t catch cold in the night. The pet name is new, but Taekwoon should have expected it, probably. 

“I don’t know. I’m sure he’s fine,” Taekwoon reassures, pressing his lips to the top of Minyul’s head. “So don’t worry. He’ll probably be back before you wake up, ok?”

“OK…” Minyul sounds unconsoled and his uncle lets out a small sigh before settling on his knees beside Minyul’s bed. 

“You really like Jaehwan, don't you?” He prompts, the name slicing at his heart.  
“Yeah,” Minyul’s black hair bops as he nods.   
“It would be sad if he was gone?”   
“Yeah.”  
“Well, if he’s not back tomorrow, I’ll go looking for him, alright? So let me worry.”  
“OK.” Minyul rolls over onto his side, closing his eyes, and Taekwoon knows that’s all he going to get out of the kid. Oh well, he’d take it. 

The cracking of his knees as he stands makes Taekwoon think that he’s getting old before he remembers that they’d always done that. Still, when he turns the light off in Minyul’s bedroom, sparing one last glance at his kin over his shoulder, he knows that he’s going to be quite lonely when the child is free from his care. That was going to feel much worse than this did.

Taekwoon can tell that the front door is still locked when he makes his way back into the hallway. A glance at the living room shows him that there are no signs of life, nothing to give away the fae’s whereabouts if he had come home. Taekwoon was legitimately worried now. Perhaps Jaehwan felt Taekwoon would ask him to leave if he saw the fae. That brought a whole new set of problems. What would Taekwoon say? Thoughts like this would eat at his mind if he was unable to quell them, so he wanders into his own room, rubbing at his eyes. They really hurt now. Not just an ache, but a physical burn. His eyes felt raw, but when he tried to recall why they might feel that way, Taekwoon drew a blank. Surely he hadn’t cried that much? He’d gathered himself fairly quickly when he first… escaped… from the apartment, from Jaehwan’s pitiful stare. 

His teeth clench, and he rubs more vigorously at the flesh now reddening underneath his eyes. He wanted the discomfort to go away, to leave him be for just a moment of peace. Surprisingly, he found that he felt warm. There was no chill that rests over him right now, there hadn’t been from the freezing temperatures outside before. It would be bad for him if he was getting sick. Then again, if this was a flu, he could just tell Jaehwan that his confession from before had been the mindless babbling of a sick-ridden fool. 

The room was heating. Stifling, and Taekwoon pulls the hem of his shirt away from his neck as though the action would relieve him of the intensity. His free hand presses against one of the eggshell- painted walls of his room, and he gazes at the plaster- covered obstruction with narrowed eyes. No, this had come on suddenly. This wasn’t normal. 

Somebody clears their throat behind Taekwoon, and he jumps. It was only a moment, but Taekwoon knew who the voice belonged to. 

A long, shuddering breath. That’s what it takes for Taekwoon to keep himself from running away again, even in his incapacitated state. He spent a lot of his life running. He did it for a living. He was quite good at it. He also wasn’t leaving Minyul in the apartment alone, because, well, he really loved that kid a lot. And Jinsoo did tell him that Taekwoon had Hell to pay if this was a situation left unresolved. (Not explicitly in his texts, but the intention was implied.)

Turning around, not an option though. Too be honest, the idea struck a chord in him that made him feel that the action was far from necessary. Taekwoon would continue to stare at the wall if that’s what he had to do to satisfy Jaehwan. No, a moment of peace was something out of his reach by now.

It starts out as a low sound. Did he leave a radio on? Was it his phone going off again? Wait. Listen. The sound was getting louder until it eventually grew into a chorus of melody that settled over Taekwoon’s flesh, sending goosebumps across his skin and cooling the heated sensation, the one that threatened to burn him alive. There were nerves that should be wracking him by this point- but they weren’t forming and he releases the shirt clutched so tightly in his hands that wrinkles began to form back against his neck where it would no longer be abused. 

Did you ever think you could have a love like this?  
Did you ever hope you could have a love like this?  
I could have never known I would have a love like this,  
It’s almost like you lurk in the corners of my mind so,   
Let me take your hand in mine and don’t let go. 

Taekwoon wasn’t very good at English. His high school teachers scolded him for his poor pronunciation. He thinks he gotten the gist of what Jaehwan was singing to him, though. Jaehwan singing. Jaehwan singing to him. It was a wonderful feeling that chased away the lingering effects of the onslaught of his emotions. It left him so incredibly elated that the world was starting to go black around the edges of his vision. So light did his shoulders get that Taekwoon wondered, if he opened his arms out wide, would he be able to fly? 

The longing to see it, to make sure that it was actually happening, stole over him like a thief in the night. Lightheaded, Taekwoon turned, his slanted eyes widening at the angel in the doorway.

Jaehwan was ethereal. Even with the shoulders of the too-large shirt hanging off of his shoulders, he was ethereal. Taekwoon didn’t know where the fae’s obsession with big clothes came from, but he was thankful for it, because he could see where the line of Jaehwan’s collarbones began and ended; where the paler skin that didn’t meet sunlight disappeared under the fabric of cotton. It was probably softer than cotton. 

Melodic notes fade off into nothingness. This is what Taekwoon had been waiting for. 

Time stands still for a moment. It’s a good moment, a nice moment. A moment of silence where words hang heavy and Taekwoon has the chance to relish in the sensation that Jaehwan’s voice left him succumbed into. He was enveloped by the honey-sweet, the rich true voice that rang from his throat. What kind of spell did he need for that?

“You’re beautiful.” He doesn’t know he’s saying it. It just kind of falls out, like a secret he’d been trying to keep. He’d known it for sure, all along he’d known just how beautiful Jaehwan was, he just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. God, Jaehwan was beautiful. Taekwoon read a book once where the protagonist described their loved one as a ray of light on a rainy day, but Jaehwan was so, so much more than that. He was radiating energy, but something lurked just below the surface that made the asparas a force to be reckoned with. Was Taekwoon a fool to not feel fearful? Jaehwan could be fallible. Jaehwan could be flawful. Jaehwan could be as human as human could be. Maybe that was what was dangerous about them.

A blush rises to Jaehwan’s cheeks, and Taekwoon almost coos. Almost. He didn’t though, because he’s a grown man who can hold back from adoring the most adorable creature he’d ever let his eyes rest upon. Instead, he sits there, in awe of the majesty in front of him. He didn’t need a magic for that.

“I didn’t know if you were just fucking around with me. Earlier. This morning,” Jaehwan admits, blinking quickly and averting his eyes from the man still gazing with veneration so intently at him. “So, I didn’t say anything. Honestly, I don’t even think we’re allowed to like humans so much.” 

“You’re smiling,” Taekwoon points out, deaf to nearly everything Jaehwan said except for the part where he mentioned liking humans. That was a step in the right direction.

“I’ve always been a rule breaker. Besides, you are too. Smiling.”

Oh, so he was. In fact, the football player’s jaw was starting to hurt from how wide he was smiling. This didn’t usually happen, at least, not when Minyul wasn’t close by. Taekwoon felt pretty damn joyful about it.

“I like it when you smile. You look too scary when you’re all serious and stuff. I felt like you were gonna kill me everytime I came home last week,” Jaehwan admits, albeit sheepishly. Taekwoon must not have realized how hostile his behavior was. He didn’t really notice anything at all, did he? What was he missing out on in the everyday? Jaehwan. He was missing out on Jaehwan. Dumb question.

“Get a coffee with me tomorrow. Just us. I’ll make you something.” 

Gosh, that sounded nice. And, while Taekwoon usually put the thought of Jaehwan dressed in his work outfit out of his mind, he found the image to be coming up now. That sounded really nice. 

He does have to sit down now, though, because Taekwoon’s legs felt wobbly. Odd, but at least his bed was right there to give him the space he needed to rest. 

“O-ok. Yeah. Yeah.” Lame, that was so LAME, gosh, Taekwoon that was so lame. Taekwoon hates his inner monologue just as much as he hates a latte sans milk. (Who makes a latte sans milk? Assholes, that’s who.) 

His smile. His smile. There was no way it was a worldly one, because Taekwoon sure had not seen anything as beautiful as it was. Beautiful was the only way to describe it. The upturn of the corner of Jaehwan’s lips into the slightly square shape so endearing to Taekwoon’s heart- it was like as soon as he allowed himself to come to terms with what he felt, everything about Jaehwan was magnified a thousand fold. 

“If we were in one of those tv dramas, I think we’d kiss now,” Jaehwan murmurs. Was that bashfulness Taekwoon was hearing? Aw, Jaehwan was getting shy. 

“Yeah, I guess we would be.”  
“But we aren’t.”  
“No.”  
“In a tv drama.”  
“Nuh uh.”  
“But, we could act like we are.” Taekwoon arches a brow at that.  
“I mean, if you want to,” the fae shrugs. No way was Taekwoon letting him get away with that one so casually.   
“If I want to what, Jaehwan?”  
The fae’s foot rubs against the floor and he’s chewing on his bottom lip and Taekwoon is smiling so widely it really must look ugly at this point.   
“I did it last time, so you should do it this time,” Jaehwan reasons, placing the onus on Taekwoon to make a move. That was actually pretty solid reasoning. Why didn’t Taekwoon just kiss him?

“You need to come here.” That sounded like a good idea. The asparas was too far away right now, much too far for his comfort, and Taekwoon pat the part of the comforter that is beside him in invitation; one that Jaehwan heeds as he moves forward, into the privacy of Taekwoon’s room. Had he stayed at the doorway for Taekwoon’s sake? So that he wouldn’t make the man too uncomfortable? 

Deva- vu. It’s what he feels when Jaehwan approaches him. It’s like the last time, but he knows exactly what’s happening now. And he wants this. Taekwoon wants this so badly that his lips start to tingle and his shoulders tense in anticipation of what’s to come. He wants the experience from before- the shock that came with it. He was going to indulge himself while he had the chance. 

Jaehwan’s weight settles on the bed, causing them both to dip into the mattress somewhat, but it brings them closer- shoulder to shoulder. The fae’s eyes are definitely sparkling. Not like a lovestruck teen in a cheesy television show, but like the stars. Like a galaxy. Like he was holding the universe in those eyes. 

Not the brown that Taekwoon had come to know. While he was totally in support of the chocolate irises Jaehwan fashioned himself with to blend in, the subtle green flints that began to pullulate and swarm in that enchanting stare drew him in. He wanted to see more. 

Subtlety is what he tries to go for as Taekwoon raises a hand to press his palm to the side of Jaehwan’s face, cradling his head in his hand. His thumb swipes gently against the warm flesh, and the fae’s breath fans out against the human’s wrist from their closeness. Taekwoon imagines he feels that breeze against his lips, and the tingling intensifies.   
Jaehwan is looking at him so intently now. When Taekwoon focuses, he can feel the asparas quivering, but he knows the movement is not caused by trepidation. The hunger in his stare tells Taekwoon that the fae wants this just as much as he does. 

When Taekwoon kisses Jaehwan, he tries to mimic how Jaehwan had done it. But now, there’s no need to rush- they have all the time in the world. He wants to take his time, to learn the grooves and dips of Jaehwan’s lips so that he won’t ever forget what it feels like to kiss someone he really cares about. 

A hand presses against Taekwoon’s chest, and he realizes that Jaehwan is the one holding onto him this time, whining softly against Taekwoon’s mouth. Taekwoon knows that they need to stop for now, but they’ve had their moment. There will be time for more. 

Taekwoon drops his hand from Jaehwan’s cheek, grabbing onto the fae’s wrist, circling his fingers around the bone to keep Jaehwan from pressing against him further. Because, he had been trying to get closer. It was getting late, though, and Taekwoon still felt tepid. It was ebbing now to be replaced by the sight of the fae with his swollen lips and heavily-lidded emerald eyes.

“We should save the rest. For a better time,” Taekwoon suggests when the silence makes it clear that Jaehwan wouldn’t be speaking. Maybe he couldn’t speak. Taekwoon could hardly get the words out.

Jaehwan nods, but he still has his eyes trained on Taekwoon. 

“Stay in here tonight. With me. To sleep,” the human suggests, and he emphasises the sleep part, but the proposition has an effect on Jaehwan as the fae begins to grin once again, hopping up from his place on the bed. 

“I saw something called a ‘pillow- fort’ on a drama, too. We should do that!” Jaehwan proposes, and before Taekwoon can answer, he’s rushing from the room with barely a sound to grab the comforter from the couch.

Despite Taekwoon’s normal disposition, he didn’t think asking Jaehwan to stay in his room was a bad idea. If anything, he was more elated than ever before. 

No more fleeting glances praying that Jaehwan won’t notice. No ducking or diving to avoid the person he was holding dear to him. Taekwoon could finally have a moment of peace. 

He hadn’t stopped smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry these are so late! I'm currently writing 500+ words a day just for school, so this a second thought for me right now, but here we are! I wonder why Taekwoon feels so warm all of a sudden though? Illness, or maybe something of a more mystical nature?


	9. Cacoethes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon allows himself to start accepting contentedness.

Waking up the next morning feels different. Taekwoon stretches experimentally, attempting to get to the cause of this difference. A roll of the hips. A snap as his knees crack satisfyingly. Nothing in his body had changed, but he still felt different. Loose. Less stressed out. 

There was noise coming from out in the kitchen. The door to Taekwoon’s room is closed and the sheets are messed, but when he places an open palm against the empty spot beside him (empty spot?) it’s still warm. 

With a gasp, he remembers. His eyes stay fixed on the bed sheets. There were noticeably more than from the day before because Jaehwan had insisted on bringing all of his in with him for the night. He’d bundled himself in a cocoon of warmth when Taekwoon gently dismissed the idea of building a pillow fort. It was late. It would wake up Minyul. Jaehwan had relented with a pout, and Taekwoon had kissed it off of him. 

Taekwoon slept peacefully and deeply. Too deeply, he fears, because when he grabs for his phone and realizes the time, he jolts wide awake and alert. His alarm hadn’t gone off. How had his alarm not gone off? It always went off, he double checked every night!

(Not last night. His phone had died and he'd just plugged it in and left it without a second thought. He was otherwise occupied.)

In dismay, Taekwoon fumbles out of bed, kicking away the covers and springing into step. He tugs on a pair of jeans so fast he’s sure he chafes his thighs, and the white t-shirt on his floor could use a wash, but it was too late for that. He needed to get his nephew to school!

He dashes across the hall to splash cold water on his face and hastily brush back his messy hair- which was sticking out in all sorts of places- before winding around the door and sprinting into his nephew’s room to wake up the child. Except, the room was devoid of Korean Toddler. The bed was made, his school clothes were missing from his desk where they were usually folded for the morning. Taekwoon inhales sharply, the much needed air bringing oxygen to his brain as his long legs take him into the kitchen.

Jaehwan is there, in his work uniform, ready to leave. Two sets of bowls are in the sink, along with a pair of spoons that were still dirty. 

“I took him,” the fae answers Taekwoon’s unspoken question. “I didn’t wanna wake you up. You look so cute when you’re asleep!” Jaehwan chirps, setting down the box of vanilla wafer cookies he was packing into a bag for his lunch. Dexterous movements, and then the asparas is planting a kiss to Taekwoon’s cheek. 

“Don’t forget, you’re meeting me later,” he reminds the soccer player, who is still trying to piece together what happened. Then he pats Taekwoon on the shoulder and reaches for his bag so that he can leave the human to ponder over his emotions for a while. 

Did… Did Jaehwan drive his car to take Minyul to school? Did Jaehwan know how to drive?

The fae is gone when Taekwoon whirls around on his heel to ask. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

The building is staring down at him imploringly. The last time Taekwoon was here, he wiped out coming out the door and Jaehwan laughed at him. In short, he made a fool of himself, and it was all that stupid fae’s fault for being so pretty. 

Squaring his shoulders, Taekwoon makes to push open the door confidently, only to be barred by a group of girls trying to exit. It was a good thing he noticed them in time, because they would have crushed him just from their sheer numbers. He grabs for the door handle, pulling it open to allow for the stream of women to exit the cafe, dipping his head as they move past him. A few are giggling, and he hears a few soft ‘thank-you’s , but nothing more- a relief. He was already antsy for the meeting with Jaehwan. Small talk was unwanted. 

Not much has changed since he was last here. There are a few people sitting at recliners placed in the corners of the cafe close to the windows for natural light. An older woman was reading a book with glasses perched on her face that could be no less old than thirty years. Two students were engaged in quiet conversation at a round table, just big enough for them to fit their two laptops on top of. No one spared him a glance save for the barista attending to a drink behind the counter. She greeted him cheerfully, with an excitement that Taekwoon knew had to be fake, because no one was that happy working in customer service. 

“Hello, there! Would you like to hear about the specials for the day?” The woman inquires, tilting her head to the side so that her long, dark hair fell behind her back. She was pleasant looking, with round cheeks and almond eyes. As Taekwoon got closer, he could see faint traces of acne scars around her chin where her makeup didn’t quite conceal. She looked safe. 

“I’m actually… Jaehwan is supposed to be here..?” He trails off, peering behind the woman to look for a staff lounge that the fae might be hiding in. 

The barista’s glance gains a look of familiarity, and she snaps her fingers.   
“You’re Taekwoon-sshi, right?! I’ll go get him, hold on just a second!” Then she disappears with the tails of her tied- up apron trailing behind her. 

Unsure of what to do, Taekwoon rubs the heel of his foot against his calf and tucks his hands in his pockets. This is what he hated. Waiting. Especially when it was so quiet. He guessed it had to be quiet for ambiance and convenience. Plus, if he listens carefully, there’s the sound of some pop- synth music playing over the speakers in the establishment. He could focus on that for now. One of his feet starts tapping subconsciously to the beat.

The chorus of the song is stuck in Taekwoon’s head when the girl who’s a stranger to him and Jaehwan finally emerge. The fae is grinning from ear to ear, and the barista is beaming at her coworker. 

“Drink’s not on the house, but Jaehwan can mix you up something delicious! He’s got some magic to him or something,” she praises, tapping Jaehwan on the arm with the back of her hand. The fae rubs at the spot in mock hurt while the barista heads toward the cash register, undoubtedly to do something of great importance. If only she knew.

“Sorry, were you stuck here long?” Jaehwan asks, crawling over the counter to sidle up to Taekwoon. The soccer player looks over at the female barista incredulously, but she acts as though nothing odd has happened. Taekwoon hopes Jaehwan doesn’t make it a habit to hop the counter to talk to unsuspecting customers. 

“N-no, not at all,” Taekwoon shakes his head while his hands emerge from his pockets. Jaehwan has a satisfied expression on his face. 

“OK, good. That would be a bad start to a date, huh?”   
Taekwoon’s mouth opens to reply, but there’s no chance, because Jaehwan grabs onto his wrist and drags him to an empty recliner in the unoccupied side of the floor. 

“Hold tight for two minutes and I’ll get you a latte, k?” the asparas instructs, flouncing away with some flourish and… Were his hips jutting from side to side on purpose? Taekwoon shakes his head and relaxes to look out the window. 

February is freezing. Cold in a lot of places, but it really felt like winter outside. People puffed out breaths of hot air and smoke alike, as they wandered to their respective places. Taekwoon would be out there later, when he had practice. But, that was later, and this was now. He would worry about combating the freezing temperatures when the time came. 

The steaming cup of coffee that Jaehwan presents to Taekwoon is beautiful. There are intricate details in the delicate jasmine flower drawn from whipped topping and caramel. Taekwoon can literally feel his eyes widening as he looks at it. He doesn’t want to drink it. That would mean the time spent preparing the piece would go to waste. There was no way he was capable of making anything like that; not even if he practiced for his entire life. The fae had done it in a manner of minutes.

Speaking of, Jaehwan was planting himself in the free seat beside Taekwoon, his eyes boring holes in the side of the soccer player’s face with the intensity of his scrutiny. 

“Well? Are you going to try it?” Jaehwan urges, biting down on his bottom lip.

“It’s too pretty to drink,” Taekwoon admits, risking a quick glimpse at the artist.

Jaehwan scoffs, shuffling closer so that their knees touch. His elbows rest on the table between the two men, chin held in his hands. 

“I’ll be upset if you don’t. I made it especially for you. And you agreed, so don’t try to back out now!” The fae warns, pursing his lips at Taekwoon. Jaehwan could very easily make Taekwoon’s life a living Hell if he so wished, and now that he knew Taekwoon’s true feelings, it would be all the worse. Taekwoon decides it's in his best interests to give in without a fight.

The mug is warm between his hands, chasing away the rest of the chill that loitered from outside. This poor illustration, about to be ruined. But, as Taekwoon brought the cup to his lips, he could see the creamy topping melting into the drink, so the sad feelings he harboured were really not reasonable. 

There’s very little bitterness to the coffee. The absence of foam was a blessing in this case, because the latte was also very milky. All in all, it was pleasant, and the caramel drizzle left something to chew on after a good sip. 

He was doing just that, trying to swallow the sticky substance when the fae speaks again, impatiently. 

“Well, it’s good, yeah?” Jaehwan pesters, his upper body leaning over so that he’s pressing against Taekwoon’s side almost, eyes large with curiousity.

Taekwoon nods, setting the cup down carefully; it was still very full. 

“Did you like the song last night?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah I did.” Getting right to the point, wasn’t he? Then again, Jaehwan wasn’t the type for just going with the flow- he had to create waves that became tsunamis. 

“It took me a long time to learn that, so you should be proud of me,” Jaehwan harrumphed, seeming very put out if the pout on his lips was any indication of his emotions. “You didn’t say anything about it yesterday. Not even my pronunciation! It was so good! Do you know how long it took me to learn that?”

“I was gone for half the day.”  
“Yeah! It took me a whole half a day! That’s like, a whole week.”  
It was not, in fact, at all like a whole week. 

Taekwoon must not have noticed before, but the other man has a cup in front of him too. Some frappuccino thing, it looks like. Jaehwan starts chewing on the end of his straw dejectedly. How petty. Too bad he just looked really cute, or else Taekwoon might be telling him how impolite it was to play with your food. Or drink. Or was it cutlery? 

“Why’re you looking at me like that?” Oh, so Taekwoon was staring again. The heat in his cheeks indicates the blush on his face and Taekwoon ducks his head from Jaehwan’s prying eyes.

“I- I wasn’t…”  
“BS. You always look at me funny. Even at home. I can tell when you’re looking at me, you know. Ever since I first got here. It changed after I watched you play though.” Jaehwan states so nonchalantly that Taekwoon nearly chokes on the sip of latte; the caffeine that he so desperately craved. Jinsoo helped his teammate after the incident in the locker room so Taekwoon looked as normal as he could in the short time he had to prepare before he’d been expected to head back out, so how would Jaehwan know? 

“It made me think you were trying to impress me,” Jaehwan teases, his eyes flickering the way Taekwoon knew often led to trouble. Were… were the fae’s eyes shifting colour? They looked much more purple now than they had a second ago. Very violet. Violent violet. Taekwoon began to inhale the scent of lavender. 

“Was that what you were trying to do, Leo-sshi? Impress me?” A head tilt has Taekwoon’s breath catching in his throat as Jaehwan’s hair falls just above his eyes. A good thing, too, because Taekwoon was starting to get lost again. 

The courage that comes with his next goading statement surprises even Taekwoon as it falls from his mouth: “I am a good player. Sometimes it’s just talent. Not trying to impress anyone.”

“Oh? Then how come you stumbled when you looked up at me?” Shit. Jaehwan had caught that? What kind of eyesight did he have? Taekwoon glares at the man while the fae grins toothily, obviously aware of what he’d done. He’d backed Taekwoon into a corner. 

“I think you imagined that.”  
“I don’t think I did.”  
“Think again.”  
“Hmmm.” A pause. “I thought about it, and I didn’t imagine it. Just admit it. You liked me even then.”  
“Does it matter?” Taekwoon grasps for a way out of the conversation. Past is past, there were other things they could be talking about.   
“It does to me.” It must have been the way Jaehwan says it that grabs Taekwoon’s attention. And the look on his face. The blond man’s eyes were distant, fingers circling around his drink just that little bit tighter to indicate that something was amiss. Taekwoon eases away from his attacking demeanor. 

“Yes, I did… Like you,” he admits, his voice softening to a mumble even though there’s not a soul within earshot. He hears Jaehwan exhale and dares a glance up. He looks relieved. 

“Good, because it would’ve been really awkward if you didn’t.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Well, uhhh…” Now Jaehwan has an air of apology about him, and Taekwoon thinks he might not want to know what the fae had to say.

“Jaehwan,” he starts in his warning tone.  
“It’s just that- ImighthavetoldSooyoungaboutyoualready.”  
He speaks so fast that the words are impossible for Taekwoon to decipher, but he quirks a brow nonetheless.   
“Excuse me?”  
“I… I told Sooyoung about you. The one behind the counter. She’s cool, though!” Jaehwan is quick to cover for his accomplice. “She’s my friend! And she’s kind of been telling me how to, uhh, get your attention, and stuff. So when you started ignoring me, we both were really confused. But!” The fae exclaims and Taekwoon shushes him quickly when he sees the elderly woman across the room from them send over a scathing glare. Jaehwan understands and lowers his voice a few octaves to a comfortable conversational tone.  
“But, now that I know you liked me, it makes me feel a lot better. Now I actually know it wasn’t my fault you were being mean. It was all yours.” Taekwoon’s eye twitches. 

So, the asparas had a point. Taekwoon did have a habit of making things out to be worse than they actually were, but the fae had some part in the miscommunications, too. There were times when Jaehwan made Taekwoon uneasy. He was capable of so much more than the human could fathom.  
“You mean to tell me that, in all the tricks and things you can do, there’s no magic to draw the truth out of someone?” Taekwoon thinks that it’s a fair question. He’d seen Jaehwan tear a living flower away from paper. The notion of a truth serum wasn’t out of the ordinary. 

For some reason, the fae looks flustered. Jaehwan averts his gaze, clearing his throat and fiddling with the straw between his fingers. 

“There might be… something… like that,” he explains, drawing Taekwoon’s attention sharply. “But, I would never use it on you! Or Minyul! I don’t… I don’t like using it at all. It’s too-” Jaehwan pauses for a second, composing himself. “It’s too personal. It can really mess you up if it isn’t done right, and I’m not gonna chance it on you, two. You mean too much to me.”

At a loss, Taekwoon’s idling stare notices the haunted look that comes over Jaehwan as he speaks. Something clicks, and even though there’s a nagging feeling that he’s crossing a line into harsh territory, Taekwoon asks anyway:  
“It happened to you, didn’t it?”  
Posed like a question, but framed like a statement. Jaehwan doesn’t have to open his mouth for Taekwoon to know the truth, because the frantic gaze he receives in return is all he needs. Taekwoon’s hand clenches around the hot mug of his drink, leaving a red imprint on his palm. The more he learned about this fairytale place Jaehwan came from, the more he despised it for hurting the fae so badly. 

“Later. I’ll tell you later,” Jaehwan promises when Taekwoon continues to search for the right thing to say. The human understood, though, because the cozy atmosphere of the cafe wasn’t screaming for tragic backstory time. 

Still, Taekwoon is reluctant, but he nods his head in agreement. Whatever it was, it was physically bothering the fae, who was shifting in his seat and stirring his drink. 

“So, Sooyoung… She’s alright with you? I mean, she seems nice, but-” South Korea did have some things it needed to learn about sexuality. Taekwoon had been lucky when Jinsoo didn’t express disdain when Taekwoon admitted his emotions. If Sooyoung was really fine with Jaehwan and Taekwoon together, then maybe things were heading in a better direction. 

“Huh? Oh! Oh yeah! She’s super great!” Jaehwan’s demeanor does a 180 and he’s back to his usual buoyant self. The smile that comes over him is so radiant that it sheds away the last tendrils of the dark conversation beforehand. “She has an older brother, so I think she looks at me like that. It’s pretty fun being the older kid,” Jaehwan admits, puffing out his chest the slightest bit. Taekwoon chuckles. 

“And -she doesn’t know this so you gotta keep it a secret- I add a little extra to the coffee so that people keep coming back. This place was almost bankrupt when I got here! And it’s so nice… I wasn’t gonna fucking let that happen.”

“You like it here,” Taekwoon comments, perhaps on the obvious. Jaehwan did look at home, though. He was relaxed, comfortable, everything that Taekwoon wasn’t when he was on the field. It was always go, go, go, never time to pause and take a breather, but here the fae was, enjoying himself and making other people happy. They were doing kind of the same job, but Taekwoon brought people entertainment through one persona, and Jaehwan only ever had to be himself for people to like him. Taekwoon feels a little envious about that, until he remembered that the asparas was going to be sleeping in his bed from now on. Then, he felt a whole lot better.

“You’re smiling at me weird again,” Jaehwan gripes, poking Taekwoon’s cheek hard which snaps the soccer player from his thoughts.   
“Ouch.” How undignified. Taekwoon rubs at his cheek to try and soften the blow from the tip of the fae’s finger.

“You baby, it wasn’t even that hard.”  
“Was too.”  
Was not.”  
Was too!”  
Children!” Sooyoung intervenes, placing a plate of frosted sugar cookies on the low-lying table in front of the pair of men, successfully making Taekwoon jump in his seat. When had she gotten so close? “Play nice, there’s plenty of toys to go around. Care to try the new in- house special? Whan-whan came up with it,” Sooyoung adds, this time looking directly at Taekwoon with that small smile that looked kind of sad, but Taekwoon wasn’t acquainted with her well enough to ask about it. Jaehwan was staring at the plate hungrily, squirming in his seat in anticipation. 

“Uh, sure,” the human nods, reaching for a star- shaped cookie, glazed in navy blue icing It was beautiful, actually, with little golden accents around the edges and gold sprinkles on top that glittered when the cookie was moved. Jaehwan had a habit of making beautiful things, didn’t he?

It tasted better than he thought. Taekwoon and Jaehwan didn’t share a sweet tooth, but the soccer player knew a good pastry when he had one. It was fluffy, but crumbled and melted in his mouth. The cookie itself was devoid of a lot of taste same for something buttery, but the icing made up for it. 

Sooyoung pops one of the cookies in her mouth, and Jaehwan must take the act as an invitation, since he grabs a few to hold in each of his hands.   
The sound of a bell ringing, and Taekwoon realizes that the door to the cafe has opened and a few people were coming inside. Sooyoung bids them a fast farewell, going to do her job while Jaehwan devours the last crumbs of cookies that had quickly disappeared. 

“You’ll get a stomach ache if you eat them like that,” Taekwoon scolds, lips forming into a thin line of disapproval.   
“Never have, never will. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but cookies will never hurt me!” And Jaehwan misquotes the saying with such conviction that Taekwoon almost thinks what he’s saying is correct- before he grunts and rolls his eyes. Jaehwan just grins at him. 

“Is it true that there’s a Love Day every month here?” The fae inquires suddenly, looking at Taekwoon expectantly. 

“Y-yes, that’s true.” More or less.  
“Oh.” That seems to be the end of that conversation. 

The bell rings again, but this time Jaehwan perks up. A few more people stream in, and he sighs, giving Taekwoon an apologetic look. 

“Sorry, looks like I have to get back to it. You can stick around for a bit, if you want. Usually it dies down in here pretty quick,” the asparas notes, pushing his seat back and standing to stretch his arms over his head. “And I’d have something nice to look at if you stay,” he adds as a passing thought, grabbing onto his empty frappuccino cup and sending Taekwoon a sultry glance that has Taekwoon’s cheeks flaming in seconds. 

“N-no! I, uh, I have to meet up with Jinsoo soon, so, um, I really should go,” he stutters out, not daring to look the fae in the eye- the fae who was retreating with shoulders trembling from silent laughter before he flings himself over the flat surface and into his place behind the cafe counter to make up drinks for the new customers. 

Taekwoon does linger a few minutes longer (maybe fifteen) just to finish up his drink and down a few more cookies. He would tell Jinsoo. About the cookies. The guy liked sweet stuff, too; him and Jaehwan would definitely get along in that regard. Taekwoon should… introduce them… at some point. 

“Shi-oot!” Taekwoon exclaims aloud, catching himself at the last second from stopping himself from swearing in public. When he did it on the field, no one could tell what he was saying, that was only speculation, but a video of him circulating of being so rude in the masses would be disastrous for his reputation. He gets a few looks for the outburst and claps a hand over his mouth in horror of what he’d done. That was embarrassing. 

The reason for his fit of temper? Taekwoon had neglected to text Jinsoo about the events of the night before. He was going to be getting an earful when he did make contact, though. He could always say that his phone died -because it had! But only for a few hours and Jinsoo would never let that slide. Taekwoon was going to be in some deep shit with his friend. 

With his cup of coffee drained, Taekwoon stands, at a loss as to where to put the empty mug before he spots a shelf with dirty dishes towards the back of the room. Taking the initiative, Taekwoon becomes the decent person and puts his own stuff away. Before he leaves, he tries to get Jaehwan’s attention, but the fae is busy applying his charm to the unsuspecting guests, and Taekwoon ignores the pang in his chest at the scene. He could distinguish an act from truth, or so he thought. Such was the peril of working in customer service, Taekwoon reasons to himself as he pushes the door open and pulls the neckline of his jacket up to save his throat from the rush of cold that was the outside world. 

He'd forgotten how cold it was. The bite of February wind causes his eyes to water from its ferocity and Taekwoon squints in an effort to relieve the painful feeling. Why did things have to be cold? Perpetual warmth was his fantasy- an unattainable one, but he could still fantasize. Jaehwan was warm. His eyes were warm. His hands were warm. The bottoms of his feet were fucking cold, though, and Taekwoon makes a face to himself underneath the cover of his coat; one that’s quickly replaced by a smile, because he knew the cold feet situation was because Jaehwan had been so close to him. He starts to feel warm again. 

In consternation, when Taekwoon is situated in his living room and on his couch that was vacant of the pillow and blanket that were usually taking up all of the space, he pulls out his phone and clicks the button that will take him to a home screen that is full of messages. Unlocking the phone only serves to worsen the problem, because as Taekwoon scrolls down his SMS, the messages from his friend become progressively more anxious, with Jinsoo typing in slang and exclamation. Poor guy. Taekwoon really wasn’t a good friend just leaving Jinsoo with nothing to work with. 

There’s a small read near the bottom of his screen when Taekwoon reaches the end of Jinsoo’s tirade so that his teammate would know that Taekwoon had actually seen the messages, but how to reply?   
Jinsoo takes that out of his hands for him.

[SMS: incoming] Jung Taekwoon if you don't respond to me in six (6) seconds I will call the cops.  
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] DON'T.   
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] Don’t. There was just a lot that happened.  
[SMS: incoming] SO TELL ME GODDAMMIT.

Was Jinsoo just waiting for him to respond with his phone in hand, watching for when Taekwoon would be ready to talk? That was the only explanation for how speedy he was to get on Taekwoon’s ass. 

[SMS: Jinnie-yah] I did what you told me to do and it turns out that it’s all working out.   
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] So, thank you. I was really letting it eat at me.  
[SMS: incoming] No shit. You were looking more dead by the day. Is that all that happened, though? ; )

Taekwoon hates that little winky face. It was distasteful and Jinsoo uses it all the time because he knows Taekwoon dislikes it so much. Taekwoon bristles, typing furiously, his thumbs tapping madly on the screen of his phone.

[SMS: Jinnie-yah] That’s all I’m telling you… But, he did sleep in my bed last night. AND I MEAN SLEEP!  
[SMS: incoming] Yeah, OK, Leo, you keep saying that and maybe I’ll believe you one day ; )  
[SMS: incoming] But, srs, if you ever make me worry like that ever again I will cut your balls off and then you’ll never get laid.   
[SMS: incoming] I’m taking a nap so come pick me up in an hour?

Jinsoo is referring to the spar session their team had later that night. 

[SMS: Jinnie-yah] Yeah, fine. Set your alarm or I’m pulling out the bucket.

Taekwoon is referring to the time Jinsoo was in such a dead sleep that Taekwoon’s knocks on his door had gone unheard, so Taekwoon had let himself into his friend’s apartment with the spare key he had and dumped ice water over his friend’s head. It had worked, but Jinsoo wouldn’t talk to him for a few days afterwards and it had made for an interesting practice due to the strange looks Jinsoo got from the rest of the players. Taekwoon didn’t wait for his friend to dry up before leaving. It was also why he kept towels in the backseat of his car. 

[SMS: incoming] Choke, Leo. <3

Taekwoon knows that’s all he’s going to get from Jinsoo, but there’s no guilt remaining for his delayed response to his friend’s concern. It just meant Jinsoo cared. Taekwoon really was lucky to have someone in his life who dealt with his shit on the daily. 

A nap does sound like a good idea, but Taekwoon is still fairly rested. Usually, he’d be tired from waking Minyul in the morning and preparing all the necessary things a parent prepared for their kid in the day, but not this morning. He decides just to flip through the channels on the tv instead, watching some local news. There was some convict who’d escaped a 20 year sentence by walking straight out the front door of the facility, but that was a few districts away and his face was going to be plastered all over social media before the day was over. He wasn't going to be bothered by it.

The program ends and Taekwoon knows he has to leave. He grabs his change of clothes, the water bottle he always kept in his fridge, and readied himself for the car ride that would no doubt be filled with Jinsoo pelting him with questions and Taekwoon successfully dodging all of them by using one simple tactic: music up, voices down. Silent treatment from him, but nothing could stop Jinsoo from singing along to a good bop. 

For the first time in a while, Taekwoon looks wistfully back at his apartment suite before he locks it up with the tingling sensation that he was forgetting something. Or maybe he was wanting something. It was alright, though. Minyul was going to be picked up by Dohyun’s mother, Minjee, after school for a playdate, so all he really had to do was figure out what to eat for dinner. Besides, Jaehwan would be done work by the time his practice was over, so the three of them would be together. Their little family.

He doesn’t know where that thought comes from, but he likes the sound of it.   
⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

It’s when he’s walking back from his car after practice (one that was mostly good except he’d been hit square in the face with a ball and now had a bugger of a hurting nose and a nosebleed that had gone on for a few minutes) that Taekwoon really notices the sheer, flimsy decorations swaying to and fro in the wind. Paper hearts and glittering signs advertising for a Hallmark holiday that was quickly taking root in South Korea. A holiday that he rarely took time out of the year to think about except for when it was fast approaching and he became horribly aware of just how lonely he was every year.

When he’s buckling himself up in his car and wiping the last drops of sweat from his forehead, Taekwoon huffs and Jinsoo laughs from the passenger seat because he knows exactly what’s bothering his friend. Taekwoon really hates this holiday.

[Valentine's Day.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13676241)


	10. Kvetch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, yes, another bellyache. Just what Taekwoon needs.

“How am I supposed to deal with this?” Taekwoon asks himself under his breath, glaring down at the piece of mail in his hand. It was a letter. From his grandmother. And, while she was a nice lady and Taekwoon respected the heck out of her, the last time he had heard from her was before his sister passed away. As in, the last time she had asked about Minyul was right before the child came into Taekwoon’s custody, when she’d insisted that it would be best if the boy lived with her, away from the city where the rest of the family lived. Taekwoon had vehemently resented that about her, because she always had something negative to say. Not to him personally, but there were offhand comments that his mother would drop to Taekwoon over the phone about the elderly woman who wanted a hand in everyone’s business. She was doing well for herself, and Taekwoon was doing well for himself, so there was no need for her to be interfering now. And Taekwoon knew for certain that she would not approve of the relationship that he had with Jaehwan, which made the letter in his hand seem to burn his skin just that little bit more.

His grandmother wanted to come and visit Minyul. Fine. Great. Minyul was her family and one of the few great- grandchildren that she would come to know, so that was only natural. Taekwoon did feel some remorse for her when he’d learned of the heart attack she suffered a year or so back, but there was still no contact from her even when he sent her a phone message wishing for her well-being. What was with this sudden interest?

Jaehwan must have noticed the tension in Taekwoon’s stance, or maybe there was a change of atmosphere that Taekwoon was lacking the senses to notice, but he wrapped his arms around Taekwoon’s waist from behind, resting his chin on Taekwoon’s shoulder to look down at the piece of paper that was the source of the football player’s angst. 

“Something going on I should know about?” The fae inquires, nuzzling into the crook of Taekwoon’s neck. Jaehwan was a very physical being when Taekwoon allowed him to be. He liked to touch, and while it was nice to have that touch every once in a while, it wasn’t too comforting right now, so Taekwoon shakes his head and slides the letter back into the envelope from whence it came. He would call the coot tomorrow.

“No, it’s nothing. I’ll handle it.” But, Taekwoon does lift a hand so that he can rest it over one of Jaehwan’s, thumb stroking over the smooth flesh that was the back of Jaehwan’s hand. 

“Mmm, K. How was practice?” The asparas continues, fluidly moving the conversation into less challenging territory. Taekwoon liked that. Taekwoon liked routine. 

“It was fine.”  
“Your nose is red. Why.”  
“I might have… fallen…”  
“You ate shit.”  
“...Sure.” That was better than saying he’d been hit in the face with a ball, Taekwoon guessed. 

“Did you eat yet?” Taekwoon rapidly changes the subject when he hears the sink stop running in the bathroom; indication that Minyul was finished washing up after his playdate. 

“Oh, no. I just munched on some stuff from work, but I’ll eat,” the fae promises, releasing Taekwoon from his hold so that they can move. Taekwoon takes the envelope with him, tucking it into the hem of his pants so that it was both covered by his shirt but safe enough that he could read it over again. Whatever angle the lady was trying to play, Taekwoon would figure it out, even if he had to read the damn thing by the light of the streetlamp coming in through his window at night. 

“Noodles, then? Need to go shopping,” Taekwoon ponders, opening the fridge and seeing just how scarce their food supply was getting. The three of them had been so busy lately that the chore had completely slipped his mind. He really should just start writing stuff like this down. Maybe on neon sticky notes so that he wouldn’t forget. 

“Noodles sounds good, right, Kiddo?” Jaehwan grins, addressing the toddler who was now entering the kitchen with wet patches at the ends of his sleeves. Hey, Minyul tried, and that’s what mattered to Taekwoon. 

“Noodles? With garlic!” Minyul enthusiastically chimes, running to his seat at the dining room table as though he expected the food to appear in front of him magically. Taekwoon wouldn’t put it past Jaehwan to make it happen for real. 

“Might be a bit. Half an hour?” Minyul’s uncle remarks, grabbing the veggies that he did have and deciding that they might as well make the meal as healthy as possible. He just hoped that the beef in the meat drawer of the refrigerator was still good. 

He hears a high- pitched groan from behind him- probably his nephew just because of the sheer volume of it- but when he peeks over his shoulder, Jaehwan is already sliding into place across from the child with an expression on his face that Taekwoon knew meant he was going to be telling another one of his stories. Taekwoon had… missed hearing those, honestly. And, now that he knew the inkling of truth that was in them, the material gave him more to ask Jaehwan about later, when they were alone. He was going to be explaining a few things, if he was comfortable and trusted Taekwoon enough. 

“Minnie- yah, do you know what an imugi is?”  
The child cocks his head to the side, squinting in thought before carefully shaking his head. “What’s it?”  
“What is it? It’s a dragon, of course.”  
Minyul’s eyes light up at that, dinner completely forgotten. “A… dragon?”  
“Oh yeah. Not like the ones you see on the tv- that movie we watched with the black one? Not exactly like that,” Jaehwan explains, and Taekwoon notices Minyul deflate significantly.   
“But!” The fae continues in a pointed tone, causing Minyul to perk right back up, his sole attention focused on the asparas in front of him. “They can become like the one in the movie. They’re actually really nice, you know. They like to live in water and they squirm around like fish.” And at this explanation, Jaehwan joins his hand together in a praying gesture, but with his fingers pointed towards the toddler as he moves his hands from side to side in a wave-like fashion. Minyul giggles. 

“They’re the best swimmers in the whole world. I think they are, because they’re really fast, just like lightning. Even if you had superpowers, you couldn’t even catch one.”  
“But I wanna catch one!” The toddler interjects. Taekwoon knew that tone of voice, and he tried not to snicker. 

“What if you could just look at them? Sometimes they do some tricks, but you have to ask really nicely and bring them a gift, usually. They like things that sparkle,” Jaehwan starts to instruct. For some reason, Taekwoon has an inkling that the fae is speaking from his own experience. Dragons, huh? Taekwoon was glad he didn’t have to deal with a dragon. It struck him as being a lot of work, even if he knew next to nothing about them.

This goes on for some time. Jaehwan talks about sparkling scales and dragon evolution and Taekwoon loses a lot of the conversation as he gets into the groove of cooking. He was no masterchef, but he was good in a pinch, and soon there’s a decent smell wafting through the apartment suite. Taekwoon is reminded of his hunger for the nth time that day, and sorely wishes that he at least had some fruit to munch on. (There was to be no more going out to get ice cream with Minyul. His nephew could have some, but treats were off limits to the football player now that his regimen was getting that much tougher to keep up with. He couldn’t afford to get sloppy when preliminaries for playoffs were going to be coming up in the next few months. If he let his team down… that would destroy him.)

There’s rice, at least, and that would serve as something to fill them up. Besides, Taekwoon knew how to make a good broth that could serve as a topper for it, so it’d be tasty.

“What do you think, Uncle Ta?” Taekwoon is torn from his duties by the sound of his name only to be met with the expectant faces of Minyul and Jaehwan. 

“Wh-what was that, again?”

 

“A dragon for a pet. That’d be pretty cool, right?” Jaehwan goads with Minyul nodding enthusiastically at his side.

“Um, let me think about that for a second. No.” 

“Aww, c’moooon,” Jaehwan pouts and Minyul starts to groan in synchronization. What sort of Twilight Zone was this? 

“Didn’t you just say we couldn’t catch one?” Taekwoon points out, turning his back to the pair before he did something stupid like give in to those two cute and imploring faces. His weaknesses.

“Well, yeaaah, but…”  
Minyul pipes up now.  
“Whannie- Hyung says we can lure them!”  
“Lure them?” Taekwoon mumbles in bewilderment. 

Minyul huffs out a breath, but Jaehwan steps in to inform Taekwoon.

“They like meat and fish. It’s usually what they eat. Cooked meat, too, not just raw stuff. I mean, when they get old enough to breathe fire, it’s probably a waste not to use it for everything, huh?” The fae remarks, Minyul agreeing wholeheartedly. 

“They can find their own meat, they don’t need us to make it for them,” Taekwoon points out decidingly, grabbing some bowls and plates from his cabinets to set out across the table. “Besides, a dragon for a pet sounds like a lot of work. Why don’t we start with something like a fish?”

“A fish?” Is Minyul’s upset statement.  
“Some dragons start as fish.”  
“They do?” Minyul and Taekwoon ask in unison, both fixing their gazes on the fae who was looking over Taekwoon’s shoulder to the pot on the stove. 

“Oh yeah,” Jaehwan nods, crossing his arms and getting an aura about him like a professor teaching a lecture to his class. “There’re lots of dragons in the giall world who just never evolve into a higher form of dragon. Some of them are fish. And they like to fight. Is it time to eat now?”

“O-oh, yeah. Can you grab some napkins?” Taekwoon asks of Jaehwan. The meal goes by peacefully after that. Minyul starts bombarding Jaehwan with questions about which types of fish were really dragons and the asparas only looks too happy to indulge in the child’s wonderment. Taekwoon stays mostly silent. He was thinking about what kind of fish he should buy for Minyul. Was his nephew ready to take care of a pet? Were they home enough for that kind of responsibility? Well, there were three of them now. They could figure it out.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“So. When were you gonna ask?” Jaehwan starts, catching Taekwoon off his guard when the two of them are preparing for their night in. A drama plays on television- something that would break the silence with its low drone but not loud enough to wake up Minyul or distract them from each other. 

“What do you mean?”  
“Earlier. At work. I said I’d tell you about truth spells.”

“You did tell me you would, but I don’t want to force you,” Taekwoon gently reminds Jaehwan as he takes his spot on the couch. Their mugs of hot chocolate steam conspiringly in their cups and conceal the fae behind a layer of mist.

“Yeah. It’s not… it’s just from when I was telling you about before. When they were trying to get rid of me. I basically had to promise that there were certain things I wouldn’t tell any other Being- that includes anything that’s a sentient Being.” 

“So, there’re things you can never tell me,” Taekwoon concludes, letting Jaehwan grab onto the handle of his cup. The outsides of the beakers were warm, but pleasantly so. Taekwoon was sad to feel it go. His fingers always got too cold for some reason. A curse, probably. Given to him at birth. 

Jaehwan nods, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Mhm. A promise’s a promise. I don’t really wanna tell you, anyway. It’s boring stuff.”

Taekwoon doubts it was boring stuff.

“But, they had to use it on me before that, when I was making a lot of trouble for them,” the fae snickers. Does Taekwoon really want to know just how far Jaehwan’s antics could go?  
“The problem is, when there’s a truth spell used on you, it’s basically just someone poking into your mind. And you can feel it. You can tell it’s not supposed to be there, and it’s like someone’s digging their nails into your brain and scraping stuff around until there’s one thing they latch onto. I was out of it for a few weeks…” Jaehwan reminisces. He gets that haunted look in his eyes that Taekwoon hates, so the human wraps his free arm around the asparas’ shoulders so that they’re side to side, only their layers of clothing between them. 

“That sounds awful,” he emphasizes. No wonder Jaehwan had reacted so animatedly to Taekwoon’s earlier inquiries. 

“Yeah. You don’t really remember so good after that. The things that they’re looking for, anyway. I can’t usually remember what I did wrong if I try to think about it too much. It’s like- what do you guys call it?- when it’s just out of reach. On the tip of your tongue but… at the edge of your mind,” Jaehwan concludes. Taekwoon leaves the fae to slurp on some of the sugary drink as he thinks. 

“That won’t happen to you again. I won’t let it,” is the denouement the human eventually comes to. It’s a violent thought. What would Taekwoon do if the people who sent Jaehwan to him tried to take the fae away? They’d only just started to be really happy with one another. He wasn’t giving that up for anything. 

Jaehwan snorts, drawing Taekwoon’s attention. There’s a jaunty grin on the fae’s face. Taekwoon is confused.

“I don’t think you have to worry. I don’t think they’re really clamoring for me t’go back home. Besides, I’d make it really hard for them, too, you know. Since you give me sweets and stuff, I guess I would have to stick up for you,” Jaehwan smiles. He uncurls himself the smallest bit so that he’s a bit more comfortable, but he leans into Taekwoon, too. The weight is nice. 

“I’m swooning.”  
“You should be. I’m not a protective fae type, but I could do a lot of damage. I should start making cards out of all the FaeFolk I know. I bet you it’d be a popular game since people like that stuff so much,” Jaehwan ponders.

“How do you know that?”

“A bunch of kids came in a couple hours after you left and brought this complicated game with them. There was a board and stuff and they all had roles to play. They stayed for a really long time and I had to ask them if they were almost done since we were closing soon but one of them told me that they were just getting started! How can you sit like that for so long?” The fae starts to stretch out his legs in front of him as if to prove a point. 

“That’s just how kids these days have fun, I guess,” Taekwoon shrugs, indulging in his own drink for the moment.

“How old are you, by the way?” coaxes Jaehwan and the human is again puzzled.  
“You don’t know?”  
“You never told me.”  
“Under 30.”  
“That doesn’t help me at all,” the fae huffs and Taekwoon coos. Adorable.   
“Why do you care?”  
“Because I’m almost 80.”

“You’re WHAT?!” Taekwoon splutters, nearly spilling the scalding drink all over himself and the couch as he jumps in astonishment.

Jaehwan blinks slowly at him. “What’s the big deal?”  
“Jaehwan. You barely look 23,” Taekwoon argues, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.  
“Well, yeah, because this is how I look when I’m human.” Jaehwan doesn’t get the point, and the football player is at a loss.  
“Humans are usually lucky if they make it to 80,” Taekwoon explains. “We don't… our lifespans are short. Most turtles live longer than us.”  
“Turtles are pretty cool, though.”  
“Is it normal for your kind to live that long?” The human intervenes, disregarding Jaehwan’s remark. 

Jaehwan shifts uncomfortably. “Well, yeah. The big guys in charge are almost a thousand years old. I don’t wanna live that long, though. I bet it gets boring after a while.”

He’s so nonchalant that Taekwoon is dumbfounded. There was a tale he remembered about an alchemist who spent his entire lifetime searching for an elixir that would make him immortal, but at the end of his journey, he was left only to himself and with the gold he’d created from all his failed transmutations. It was probably a story about how wealth could never buy true happiness, but Taekwoon always thought that the main message was more that searching for something unattainable would only destroy you in the end. Now Jaehwan was talking about living for hundreds of years like it was nothing. 

“Stop looking at me like that. I hate it,” Jaehwan snaps and Taekwoon come back to reality. From the angle, Taekwoon can see that Jaehwan looks frustrated.  
“Sorry. It’s just… Don’t tell other people that, OK?”  
“Do you think I’m dumb?”  
“No, it’s not that.”

“Look.” Jaehwan sets his cup on the low coffee table in front of the couch before turning his body to sit cross-legged in front of Taekwoon. “I’m starting to learn a whole lot about humans. I’m not about to do something that would turn me into a test subject in a laboratory, got it?”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon digresses. That was going to stay a very real fear of his, though. If someone did find out the truth about Jaehwan, there was going to be Hell to pay. Taekwoon wondered if he had enough to satisfy the toll. 

“So. Now you know. I’m 78, by the way. A full grown asparas.” Jaehwan is suddenly proud again. “The aging process after this is pretty slow, but a thousand is waaaay too old. You just look ancient by then and that’s not what a want. Maybe around 600. Yeah, that’s usually a good age to go. Still look pretty good at 600. Wings don’t usually tear until the 800th year depending on how you take care of them.”  
“You… How do you take care of wings?”  
“Like any other body part, silly.” Jaehwan scoffs. “The mistake lots of FaeFolk make is not stretching them out enough. If you don’t stretch ‘em then they get too used to being in one position and when you want to actually use them they just creeeeak.” Taekwoon winces at the noise.   
“That sounds painful.”  
“It is. So, I make sure to stretch mine every day.”  
“Here?”  
Jaehwan shrugs. “Usually. I mean, it’s not like I can just do it on my break at work, right?”  
“Wait wait wait, hold on. Do you even have room to do that here?” Yeah, the living area was pretty spacious, but Taekwoon doubted there was adequate room for the fae to do what he was proposing.

“Do you want me to show you?” Jaehwan asks. Well, of course Taekwoon wanted to see it -who wouldn’t want to see a faerie’s wings?- but he also really liked his television and he didn’t want to see it broken. 

“... Sure,” he relinquishes, sitting back into the couch cushion as the fae springs to his feet. 

A good moment passes. Nothing is happening, is what is going through Taekwoon’s mind when Jaehwan just stands there for a minute. But, then he sees it. Jaehwan’s hot chocolate cup. The contents of which were moving as though something of significant weight were stomping around the apartment. There is nothing that Taekwoon can feel, though. He’s firmly planted on the couch and he’s not being affected by whatever the fae is doing.

With his nose scrunched up in concentration, Jaehwan exhales a breath that is warm and much too long for a human to be capable of. Taekwoon watches with a gaze transfixed in fascination as the air continues to blow and flow but… What’s happening?

Jaehwan is shrinking. Slowly but surely, the man is disappearing before Taekwoon’s eyes. What the ever loving fuck?

 

Taekwoon’s palms are starting to burn with the strength that he’s gripping his cup, but it goes unnoticed until it stings and that’s when he blinks. The action causes him to miss it. Jaehwan almost completely vanishes. Panicked, Taekwoon scrambles to place his cup on the table beside the fae’s and nearly gets to his feet before…

What if he steps on Jaehwan? Taekwoon can’t see where he’s gone but now he knows how the fae was able to stretch his wings out because, wow, he was small. 

A buzzing sound by Taekwoon’s ear and he slaps at the side of his neck, sure of there being a fly or bug before coming to a horrific realization.

“Hey, watch it!” Comes the tiny voice, and Taekwoon turns his head to look at his shoulder where the noise was coming from.

There, Jaehwan sits at ease. He couldn’t be bigger than Taekwoon’s pointer finger. He’s kicking his bare feet out in front of him, the picture of leisure. 

“Where did you get those clothes?” Taekwoon asks when he can because he was in a right bit of shock. 

“Oh, these?” The blond fae looks down at the shimmering green cloak wrapped around his torso. Even if they were miniscule, Taekwoon can see the tiny adornments of detail in the piece. Three silver stripes ran adjacent to Jaehwan’s shoulders, nearly down the arms of the cloak, but one straight down the side, along the fae’s hip until they hit the hem at his feet. There were spots of brightly lit white splotches that swirled over the fabric like constellations, but the football player wasn’t recognizing a single one. Then again, he was never good at astronomy. 

“We all get them for travelling. This is the colour I was assigned. Do you like it?” Taekwoon is amazed at the clarity of the fae’s voice. It sounded just like it did before, when Jaehwan was, well, larger just on a smaller scale. It wasn’t squeaky or high-pitched, but Taekwoon did have to strain to hear.

“They look nice on you,” he compliments, and even with the distance, Taekwoon sees the smile on Jaehwan’s face. Something in his chest warms, and it has nothing to do with hot chocolate.   
“Thanks! Anyways, that’s how I stretch my wings.”

The appendages in question were thin, almost translucent. Taekwoon could only compare them to gossamer sheets; a gossamer- winged butterfly sadly devoid of any pigmentation.

“They look so… delicate,” Taekwoon finds himself remarking aloud, awestruck. It didn’t suit Jaehwan. He wasn’t delicate. He could hold his own in an argument and he was never afraid to stir things up even if he was going to get hurt. 

“That’s just how they all look for asparases. Well, actually, lots of them are green or brown, but because I don’t live at home anymore, mine have kind of faded.” The fae isn’t bothered. If anything, he looks even more pleased with himself, so Taekwoon doesn’t deign to question him. 

“Have you always been this small?” He decides to go with instead, because that was polite and Jaehwan was tiny.

“Yeah. When I get to human size it’s a little uncomfortable, actually. My whole body feels kind itchy? Or crawly? Something like that,” Jaehwan attempts, and Taekwoon thinks he gets it. “But it usually goes away after an hour or so after I grow, so…” Jaehwan shrugs. His wings are swaying to and fro languidly, fanning Taekwoon’s cheek. They’re so soft, he can barely feel it. 

He begins to speculate on how long Jaehwan spent like this in hiding around the house. Taekwoon could imagine that there were days when the fae just didn’t want to talk, especially during the period of miscommunication. Jaehwan wasn’t the spying type, however, so any image his mind conjured of the fae setting himself up in the corners of the ceiling were quickly dismissed by Taekwoon’s logical mind. 

“Is this weird for you?” The fae prompts and Taekwoon shakes his head. He was too far gone for this to be weird for him.   
“Just… I guess even though you warned me, I wasn’t really expecting this.”  
“That your boyfriend’s really a couple inches tall but could still kick your ass?”  
“Try it. See how far you get before I swat yo- YOUCH!” Jaehwan pinches at the side of Taekwoon’s neck, and that stings a whole lot. Jerk.   
“You were saying?” The fae triumphantly and smugly gloats and Taekwoon scowls at him. 

There’s some silence. Jaehwan takes that as a sign to move, and soon he’s fluttering in the space before Taekwoon’s face. The human is fascinated at the speed the dainty wings have to move to keep the creature suspended in the air, and at this angle, he can more clearly see the detail of the small fae. There are different marks on his face; he doesn’t look like the Jaehwan Taekwoon knows very much. That leaves an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach. Sure, Jaehwan told him about this side to the fae, but seeing it- it was enough to make Taekwoon question a lot. Knowing that there were secrets Jaehwan was under oath to keep (not to mention the dire consequences that would surely arise should the asparas break that bond) it only served to place Jaehwan even further from Taekwoon’s reach. They really were worlds apart. Universes apart? Realities apart. 

“You look sad. Why?” Jaehwan prods, and Taekwoon shakes his head.   
“Nothing. There’s nothing you can do about it,” the human responds, but he can tell Jaehwan doesn’t like that answer.

In the next instant, Taekwoon has a lapful of human-sized fae, and he’s frowning. The sudden burden on his thighs has Taekwoon lunging forward so that he has to grab Jaehwan by the sides to steady himself.

“Tell me,” Jaehwan demands.   
“It’s really nothing. It’s stupid.”  
“Things that make you sad aren’t stupid. You’re stupid all on your own.”  
“Thanks again,” Taekwoon sarcastically replies with a roll of his eyes. 

Now Jaehwan just seems exasperated, and he places both palms against Taekwoon’s chest in indignation. “You’re not taking me seriously!”

“It’s pretty hard to do that when you’re joking around all the time,” the football player points out. Jaehwan pouts.  
“And there’s my point. “  
“You’re mean.”  
“You’re the one who stays with me. So maybe you like it.”  
“Do not.”  
“Do, too.”  
“Do not!”

“You’re gonna wake up Minyul,” Taekwoon shushes the fae. Jaehwan grits his teeth, but he backs down. The asparas has the clothes from before back on again, and it was odd to Taekwoon that Jaehwan could switch to a human’s height so easily when it took him a whole process beforehand to shrink.

“You going to explain why you can do this so fast?” Taekwoon starts, patting Jaehwan’s hips where his hands were still planted firmly.

“Huh? Oh. It’s just ‘cause I do it all the time now. When I did it the first few times, it took me a bit. Probably ten minutes every time?”   
“That’s a while.”  
“Yeah. But since I’m in this form mostly, it’s just sort of natural now.”  
“Understandable.”  
“I bet you like me more like this anyway, huh?” Jaehwan teases, grinning as he leans forward toward Taekwoon, blowing a breath gently across the human’s face. Taekwoon braces himself against the assault and narrows his eyes. 

“I dunno. You were a lot quieter just now. Hard to beat that.”  
“You’re the worst human I’ve ever met. And I had a lady ask for a decaf soy latte with an extra shot and cream today.”  
“What does that even mean?” Taekwoon wonders quizzically.  
Jaehwan shrugs. “Dunno. She didn’t yell at me when I gave it to her, though, so I must’ve done it right.”  
Taekwoon pauses.   
“Did you cast a spell on her so she would like it,” he ends up asking.  
“No.”  
“Liar.”  
“So what if I did?”  
“Jaehwan!” Taekwoon starts, exasperated. “People have allergies. Sometimes they need soy milk.”  
The fae being discussed shakes his head. “Not her. She was just being difficult.”  
“You’re a menace to human society.”  
“Yeah.” Jaehwan agrees so quickly that all Taekwoon can do is shake his head. 

The asparas starts to clamber off of the human by this point, swinging his legs over Taekwoon’s hips so that he can take his original spot on the couch. Picking up his cup of cocoa, he frowns. 

“It’s cold already,” Jaehwan complains.  
“Yeah, ‘cause you were too busy showing off,” Taekwoon snorts.  
“That’s pretty unfair. You wanted me to show you all of this.”  
“Please stop.” Before this goes too far.

“Make me,” Jaehwan counters and that sparks a part of Taekwoon’s brain that is 1) overly competitive and 2) dangerous. His upper lip curls in defiance at the pestering expression on the fae’s face. 

“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” he warns the asparas. That prompts Jaehwan to stick his tongue out again. 

“You think you’re soooo scary, Mister Tough Guy. But you keep forgetting that I live here and I know you by now. You couldn’t hurt me if you were being tortured,” Jaehwan confidently replies.

“I’m pretty sure I’d sell you out right away,” Taekwoon grumbles. 

“Nope. You like me too much. Just let it go.” Jaehwan had a point, which only made Taekwoon resent him that much more. 

“You’re actually insufferable. You sure you’re a fae and not a demon?”  
“Oh yeah. Demons usually have claws or fangs.”  
“I hate that you know that,” the football player sighs.  
“I didn’t. I made it up, but it fooled you.”  
Taekwoon hates that it did mislead him.  
“So,” Jaehwan grins, setting his cup on his knee, “when do I get to meet your grandma?”  
“How did you know about that?”  
“I peeked. Sorry.” (Jaehwan was not sorry.)  
“I guess when she comes over you’ll have to meet her,” Taekwoon fusses.

“OK, good, because I hate the way she writes and I need her to know that.”

Taekwoon was very much not looking forward to this meeting.


	11. Vociferous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of things beyond Taekwoon's control, no matter how hard he might want to change them.

“You’d look good with blond hair,” Jaehwan tells him when they’re brushing their teeth.  
“Fanks,” Taekwoon answers through his toothbrush. 

“No, really.” The fae slams his hand on the counter, pointing at the slightly taller man with intense eyes. “You’d look like a movie star.”

Taekwoon spits out the mint paste in his mouth before wiping a facecloth across his lips. At least all he could taste was freshness now.

“I don’t need to look like a movie star, I’m an athlete.”  
“You could be both, though,” Jaehwan argues.

“I don’t want to be. Filming takes a lot of time that I don’t have,” the human reasons. There’s a plonk of his toothbrush landing into the cup on the counter where Taekwoon keeps it and he turns to the disgruntled asparas with an enraptured stare. 

“Sounds like a dumb excuse to me,” Jaehwan grumbles as he crosses his arms, effectively allowing toothpaste to drip from the end of his brush onto the tile floor below.   
“Then I’d get to spend less time with Minyul and you.”  
“Nevermind, don’t be a movie star.”  
“That’s what I thought.”

“Taekwoon,” Jaehwan hums, “what would you be doing if not for Minyul?”  
“Hmm. Probably the same thing I’m doing now,” the football player decides, handing Jaehwan the cloth to wipe up his mess.   
“That sounds lonely.”  
“Mm.”  
“You’d be ok with that?” Jaehwan asks in disbelief, going back to his original stance in front of the mirror to run water from the sink over his toothbrush again, getting rid of the remnants.

“I haven’t really experienced anything else. It’s just normal to me. Life is practice so I can be better at what I do. Plain and simple.” Plain and simple. Taekwoon’s two main philosophies. 

“You’re a weird human.” Jaehwan huffs, but he puts his own toothbrush away and wipes at his face to get rid of excess materials left behind. He was so messy sometimes.  
“OK.”  
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing,” Jaehwan warns. “You don’t have to agree with everything all the time. Going with the flow is boring.”

“It’s easier for me. On me,” Taekwoon remarks as he combs his fingers through his hair. He needed a haircut. The locks of his bangs nearly blinded him with how far they fell over his eyes, casting a shadow over everything he saw. What a pain.   
“From what I’ve seen, the human experience isn’t easy,” the fae grouches, tossing the damp cloth back at Taekwoon. Taekwoon barely catches it before it collides with his shoulder. 

“Try actually going through it. You’re talking like you haven’t had a tough time either,” he points out, and Jaehwan doesn’t seem to have a comeback for that. 

“Fine, whatever. Humour me then. What would you do if you didn’t play?” He goes with instead and Taekwoon wonders why he has to think so much so early in the morning. 

“I dunno. A lab technician?” Taekwoon was interested in biology even if he wasn’t so great at the memorization thing. Maybe he could have been a research assistant if he worked hard enough.  
“What kind?”  
“Is it that important?”  
“I like knowing things about you. If I don’t ask, you won’t tell me,” the fae figures and Taekwoon rolls his eyes.  
“Have you ever thought that I just don't have anything interesting to say?”  
“No.”  
“Tch,” Taekwoon’s tongue clicks over his teeth and he pats the top of Jaehwan’s head. “Well, I don’t. I have to go.”

The fae whines at this. Taekwoon’s second exhibition game was starting in an hour, and all players had to be there at least a half hour early to rendezvous and establish a plan of attack. Each game was different; each team had its own weaknesses. Taekwoon had been watching the team they were playing tonight on television to try and pinpoint those weak spots. He was aware that their defense was strong, but it was to make up for a lack of forward power. The only thing left to do was strategize, and he needed everyone to show up early so that he could help with setting up lines and changing positions if the need arose.

“I told you you could come with me,” he reminds Jaehwan as he steps out into the hallway.   
“And be stuck sitting in the stands? No thank you!” The asparas’ nose turns up in distaste and Taekwoon shakes his head. 

“Just make sure Minyul doesn’t act out too much, please? He’s usually great, but this is going to be a big game. He might get excited.” The beginning of the season was always a big deal. “Media’s going to be scrutinizing players and fans all at once. Are you ready for that?”

“I know what a camera looks like,” Jaehwan snipes back as he follows the human out into the open.   
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Taekwoon mumbles, looking down at his phone. He really needed to go. He had to pick up Jinsoo before they went to the stadium. 

His bag feels heavier than usual when the football player picks it up. His jersey was with another teammate- the poor sap was the one who had to take them over the break and make sure they were washed and pressed and generally in good condition- so he didn’t have the extra burden. As it was, there was a lump forming in his throat and something hard in the pit of his stomach. There was no way he could be nervous, though. He’d done this too many times. But, this was different from the feeling of excitement. Uneasy.

“And remember,” Taekwoon reminds the fae as he stands in the doorway leading out of his apartment, shoes and shorts on with a determined face. Minyul was tip-tapping his toes against the hardwood as he sauntered into the living room, holding onto the thigh portion of Jaehwan’s pants to say goodbye to his uncle for the next few hours. “There are gonna be a lot more people at this one than the last game you came to. Best behavior, yeah?” The last is directed towards the boy, who gives his uncle a thumbs up and a giggle. Too bad he wasn’t the one Taekwoon’s anxiety was stemming from. 

“Yes, yes, we won’t make a ruckus and I definitely won’t set anything on fire,” the fae promises. When had Taekwoon warned him about fire? Should he have warned him about fire? He can’t ask now because the timer on his phone is going off and he’s heading out the door. They would be left to their own devices now, and he had to formulate a plot to kick the team they were going up against back down the roster. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

It’s loud. He can hear it from the dressing room. The men are loud. The coach is loud. The fans are loud. Somewhere, Minyul and Jaehwan were in that loud crowd, cheering along with the rest of the spectators. Taekwoon was thankful for that. 

Jinsoo is sitting next to him on the bench in the locker room with their knees touching companionably together. Taekwoon was thankful for that, too. His clipboard is in their coach’s hand and he’s using his outside voice to speak to his players and the line of figures ready to head out onto the field were listening attentively to the speculative scenarios he was running them through. They had their main plays. They had their backup plays if those didn’t work out. Taekwoon was going to be on the field for the vast majority of the game. That was good. He wouldn’t be able to think. Thinking felt… hard right now. The sensation of a faint pressure against his shoulder has Taekwoon raising his head to the friend sitting beside him. Why was Jinsoo looking at him like that? Concerned? 

“You’ll do great. We’re counting on you,” Jinsoo mutters under his breath so that their coach can’t hear and rebuke them for being distracting to the other players. “And I’ve got your back. We’ve all got your back. Just be the Leo we need you to be, alright?” 

“Yeah. Don’t need to tell me that,” Taekwoon grins. Talking to Jinsoo was easy, too. Taekwoon was grateful for that.

“And if any of you get stupid out there…” their coach is warning as the players stand, still waving his clipboard, “I will drop kick you out of the field myself! LET’S GO!” There’s a cheer from the boys and that’s their cue. They’re hyped up on adrenaline and Powerade and nerves. They’re jittery and anxious and excited. 

And they want to win.   
Taekwoon wants to win.  
He bites down on his mouthguard hard as the bright lights of the stadium open up before them and that’s when he sees it. The hardly audible noise of the crowd grew into a deafening roar as the blue and red of their home jerseys appeared from the players’ quarters. There were signs and artworks, face painted smiles that came from every inch of the stands and the occasional scowl from fans of the opposition. That was good. It was no fun if there were only fans of one team in attendance. What would they be playing for if not a healthy dose of rivalry?

“Eight!” His coach calls and Taekwoon knows it’s about him. They were supposed to be starting warm up, why was he being singled- out?  
“Yes, Sir!” He starts while jogging up to the slightly shorter man whose stomach was beginning to show some pudge after some years of being off of the field. 

“I’m expecting a lot from you. Don’t let those two from last time distract you, you hear?” The man says with an icy glint in his gaze. Those two? Jaehwan and Minyul? They weren’t a problem last time, so why was he bringing this up?

“With all due respect, I’m confused, Coach,’” he decides to chance. He was getting too into his character today; too bold. 

“Don’t think I don't see it,” the other man hisses, taking Taekwoon aback with the vehemence in his voice. “You’re on this team right now because you’re good, so watch your step, boy.”

“O-oh.” Oh. Fuck. Great. Taekwoon knows that he’s dismissed and, frankly, he’s glad to get away from the coach that he now realizes is an absolute asshole.

“What kind of trash human…” Jinsoo remarks when they’re both on the sidelines, Taekwoon having relayed the conversation to his curious teammate who’d been waiting for him pre-warm-up. 

“Whatever. Nothing I can do about it. I’ll just keep being good,” Taekwoon mutters. His friend grunts at him, but they both know the predicament that Taekwoon was in. It just sucked that his coach had to be the one homophobic person that could do him some real damage. If he didn’t play his cards very carefully, Taekwoon ran a real risk of being ostracized by the whole division.

Jinsoo pats him on the back. “Let’s get through today then we’ll worry about tomorrow, K?”   
“Yeah,” Taekwoon nods, bumping his fist against his teammate’s before it’s time for them to descend into the Hell that was the major leagues. 

And they brought the game. He couldn't worry about what the shouting was about. His ears were ringing and his heart was thundering in his chest and the muscles in his legs were burning. He loves this. He’d missed this. There was so much excitement around him and it was because of them; because of him!

He scores. Taekwoon hardly knows until the rest of his team are crowding around him, jumping up and down, hollering while chanting Le-O, Le-O, Le-O. And then he makes a mistake.

Because he looks up into the stands and he sees Jaehwan and Minyul and he smiles as wide as he can at them so that they know he can see them. He doesn’t care in that moment, though. He might care later.

Right now, Leo feels like he’s on top of the world. And the smiling faces of the two boys in the crowd cheering him on is only fueling his euphoria. There was nothing wrong with that. He would show the rest of the world just how not-wrong it was. He would make sure they knew.

The pain hits him around the 100 minute mark. Not the usual pain that he was used to that settled in his muscle and sinew and spurred him on to play harder. This was sharp. When his head hits the turf, not even the false greenery of the ground could save him. 

Tripping was bad, but it was done. They all did it sneakily from time to time- Taekwoon was no angel when it came to that. He could usually take the hit since he wasn’t one of those players who acted up the injury. This time, there was some trouble getting up from the trip.

He pushed away from the ground, attempting to gain his bearings even as the earth spins around him. The play must still be going on in their end, because people are still screaming until there’s a collective gasp. It starts to die down because he’s still failing to get up from the ground. His ears were ringing. 

“Hnn. Hnn. Hny!” Taekwoon blinks, able to raise his head enough to see Jinsoo kneeling down beside him and shaking his shoulders. His friend sounded alarmed. Taekwoon winces when the sound comes back to him.

“Hey, hey!” Jinsoo is saying to him and Taekwoon slaps his teammate’s hand weakly away when he attempts to help Taekwoon into a sitting position. He could do it himself, he just needed a second. A man in a white and red outfit is beside him now, pressing Taekwoon with questions. The football player really just wanted the stranger to leave. 

“M’good. I’m good,” he mumbles out as he tosses his head from side to side. If he kept doing that, maybe the world would stop spinning. 

“Concussion?” Taekwoon starts hearing being murmured around him and he grunts in disapproval. He was built tougher than that.   
“I said I’m fine,” he starts to snap and Jinsoo lays a hand on the square of his back to calm him.   
“Knock it off,” his friend warns, and Taekwoon knows what he means. His vision is clearing of the dark black spots and he can see his coach on the sidelines with a red, bloated face and fists pressed tightly at his sides. Taekwoon going to be in for some shit later.   
“Fuck,” he mutters and Jinsoo presses harder between his shoulder blades. Oh yeah. The cameras. 

He only lets his teammate bring him to his feet when the throbbing in his head starts to recede. Nothing’s broken; he can tell that much. He just took a nasty fall. It happened. He’d get through it. But, walking is turning out to be harder than originally planned, and Jinsoo’s shoulder serves as a good post for Taekwoon to hang on to as they make it to the sidelines. The play starts to go on. The whole ordeal can’t have lasted more than two minutes. 

A medical team consisting of three people (one of them was training) stays to assess the damage to his head. They force him to follow their finger with his eyes. They shine a light right into his pupils, blinding him. They give him the OK only when he can recall the events just prior. He remembered everything. He was fine. His head just hurt like a bugger. 

“You’re not to play the rest of the game,” the medic tells him and his coach scowls from behind the figure. So much for keeping on the man’s good side. Real nice curve ball the universe just threw at him; too bad he sucked at baseball. 

Jinsoo has to stay behind to play the rest of the half because now they were down a body that they weren’t expecting. That was alright. The medics were making Taekwoon retreat back to the locker room now, and thankfully, his coach hastens to get back to barking at the rest of his team. Then again, that pretty much meant Taekwoon was dismissed. But, could he leave? That would look bad. He would stay and wait. The game was almost over, anyway. 

There were the beginnings of nausea settling in, and Taekwoon’s stomach turns when he brings his uniform top up and over his head. That was a bad sign, but he was going to choose to ignore it because Taekwoon treated major injuries like minor scrapes. And he wasn’t very smart. 

He finishes changing, but the lack of commotion outside tells him that the game is still going. No doubt a somber atmosphere came over the crowd when he was taken out of the play. It was a consequence of player injury, but sports were also unforgiving. If they didn’t heal up fast or grit their teeth and deal with the pain, there would be some new, younger sensation to take their place. Taekwoon had no intention of letting that happen to him. He sits with his head down by his knees until the noise of fifteen some odd grown men coming towards him causes him to react. 

“Fuck yeah!” One of them screams into the locker room (probably Dongwoo, he was a loud one). 

“Does that mean we won?” Taekwoon voices groggily when he regards the rest of his team. They’ve got huge smiles on their faces, and their happy attitude is infectious enough to have him grinning along. 

“We managed,” Jinsoo tells him when he takes his spot beside their captain. “Turns out some of these guys are actually pretty good. Just try not to get messed up again, yeah?”

“Yeah! We could’ve used you in the last couple minutes. Hyuk took a ball to the face to stop a goal,” Dongwoo exclaims as he starts to drag his sweat-stained shirt off.   
“Oh?” Taekwoon beams.  
“Hurt like a motherfucker,” said man yells from across the room. Taekwoon laughs- a sound barely above a chuckle. 

“Seriously, though, how fucked are you right now?” Hyuk asks him, and Taekwoon waves his hand in a gesture of indifference.   
“I’ll pop a Tylenol at home n’ sleep it off. Practice day after tomorrow, right?” He concludes. He had a day to deal with this. A day was more than enough.

“Sure man, whatever you say,” Hyuk shrugs and turns to dig for something in his bag.  
Their coach is absent from the room still. That was either very good or very bad, and Taekwoon’s pessimistic mindset was leaning towards the latter option. 

“Just go. What’s he gonna say to you anyway?” Jinsoo pipes up from beside him and Taekwoon grumbles under his breath.   
“Stop acting like a little kid,” his friend pesters him and Taekwoon sticks his tongue out at the other.   
“Nice.”  
“Thanks.”   
“Hey, speakin’ of kids and since you’re not leaving, you want me to take Minyul out to eat? He’s a funny kid, and he brings in loads of girls,” Jinsoo grins.  
“I can’t even begin to tell you how annoyed I am at you right now,” Taekwoon warns. Jinsoo’s guffaw cuts through the locker room.   
“C’mon, I was just playing around! And you look like shit, so you could probably use some quiet time,” his teammate argues. Taekwoon had to admit, he was being persuaded.   
“Just don’t use him to get a date, alright?” He gives in and Jinsoo pumps his fist in the air.  
“No promises!”  
“I’ll cut your dick off.”  
“Alright, I solemnly swear I will not use your child to attract women,” Jinsoo swears, holding a hand over his heart to show the extent of his seriousness. 

“Cool,” the man with the likely head injury nods. That did mean that he had to wait for Jinsoo to be ready to leave, though, which meant an extra ten minutes in the room that was 1) starting to smell awful and 2) crowded and warm. One of the worst combinations.  
“I’ll get us a cab back to your place,” his friend says when the two of them are leaving the players’ area and entering the public accessible spaces. “I’ve got a storage unit in your district anyway, and there’s some other friends I’m meeting up with later, so no reason for you to drive me all the way home anyway,” Jinsoo explains fast when Taekwoon opens his mouth to object.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”  
“Just forgot, I guess.”  
“Oh.”

“Uncle Jin!” They both hear, and sure enough, Minyul and Jaehwan are waiting for Taekwoon in the lobby section for the arena complex. 

“Hey kid! Miss me?” Jinsoo playfully asks when they get close enough and Minyul beams up at the man with a sparkle in his eyes. “Your uncle says we can go out for some food if you wanna have a meal with your favourite guy,” he continues and Taekwoon rolls his eyes. It’s too bright in the lobby, he decides. The light was a strain on his vision. Oh. Ouch. Taekwoon blinks down at Minyul, whose chubby face is staring at his caretaker. 

“Uncle Ta, you fwell.”  
“I sure did, but I’m OK,” Taekwoon smiles and drops down to his knees to give his nephew a much needed hug. That must have been a scary thing to watch for the little tyke. 

“Can I really go with Uncle Jin?”  
“You sure can, but only if you want to,” Taekwoon nods.

“Yeah!” Minyul smiles, all semblance of worry gone from his features. The fae was not the same. Jaehwan has his arms crossed and his foot is tapping against the floor in hurried agitation. Whoops. 

“Let’s get outta here then, K?” Jinsoo announces when he gets a look at Taekwoon’s complexion. “Catch you guys later. Nice t’see you Jaehwan,” the man expresses and Jaehwan puts on something resembling a smile. It might have fooled his friend, but Taekwoon could see how fake it was. 

The problem is that the fae is quiet until they get into Taekwoon’s car. He said nothing on the way past the other people mingling around them or through the parking lot, and that was cause for alarm in Taekwoon’s books. 

He loads his bag into the trunk while Jaehwan takes his spot in the front passengers’ seat but still nothing, until-

“Y-you…” Jaehwan trails off when he gets a good look at the human’s present state. Originally, Taekwoon had been glad not to look in a mirror before, but now he wondered what could cause the concern to lace Jaehwan’s features. Jinsoo warned him, but it couldn’t be that terrible, right?

“It’s not as bad as it looks, I bet. The other guy looks worse,” he jokes. The fae purses his lips.  
“You didn’t hit anyone else.”  
“I meant the ground.”  
“You’re dumb,” the fae sighs tiredly.   
“Yeah,” Taekwoon agrees in a soft voice as he looks anywhere but the asparas’ judging eyes. Jaehwan starts to shift in his seat, and Taekwoon clears his throat before turning his key to start the car. 

“Don’t do that again,” Jaehwan speaks up and the human looks over curiously. Jaehwan is angry. Or, at the very least, Jaehwan is frustrated, and Taekwoon seriously ponders if he’s going to make it back home alive. 

“I didn’t do it on purpose, you know,” he reasons as he reverses the car out of his parking spot. Jaehwan huffs, but he goes silent for a few good minutes. 

Taekwoon is astonished at how dark it’s gotten in the time they were gone. Was it going to rain? It sure looked like it, what with the dark cloud formation coming their way. Maybe… a thunderstorm? If not, it was going to be a good hard torrent. 

“Pull over.”  
“Hm?” Did Taekwoon mishear the man in the passenger seat? They were coming up to an intersection with one of the four ways heading towards an empty parking lot for a reserve park. Why would Jaehwan need him to pull over?

“Just… please?” The fae pleads. 

“Uhh, okaaaay,” Taekwoon drags, putting on his signal. This was weird, but he was feeling way too tired to argue. 

The lot is gravel and dirt, so the car protests with a squealing noise as it wheels over the unfamiliar terrain. Taekwoon only goes far enough that the two of them are concealed from the four-way then he turns to see what the fae had planned. 

He can’t ask anything, though, because Jaehwan’s seatbelt is already off and he’s clambering over the gear shift between the seats to climb into Taekwoon’s lap and the human is being kissed hard. It hurts. It’s a good hurt, a pleasant one, and he’s kissing back with the same ferocity because it felt good. 

“Don't,” Jaehwan breathes against his lips when he’s satiated. “Don’t scare me like that again.”  
Oh. “I won’t,” Taekwoon promises and his voice cracks, which is pretty embarrassing. His agitation goes over the fae’s head, and then their lips are meeting again, but it’s not so rushed this time. Instead, Taekwoon places his hands on Jaehwan’s hips and his thumbs start to draw circles into the cotton of the fae’s shirt. The light in the car is dying down and soon they’re surrounded by a pleasant dark purple hue signalling the incoming of the rain. 

Plush. Soft. Taekwoon loves this. He feels like a man starved when they’re like this. Rarely did he have the chance to be with the fae, alone, able to do what they pleased like the adults they are. Jaehwan’s palm encompasses his cheek and Taekwoon leans into the touch because it’s cool against his hot skin and he needs it. 

“Sorry,” the fae huffs when he breaks away. (Jaehwan breaks it, not Taekwoon. Odd). “We should, uh, we should…” he goes quiet, looking confused and Taekwoon crinkles his brows. 

“Is everything OK?” He asks and Jaehwan nods hurriedly to cure any of the human’s worries. 

“Yeah! It’s just… isn’t this… a little too…” he waves his hand around to their surroundings and Taekwoon thinks he understands. 

 

“Right, um. We should move,” the football player agrees. So much for spontaneity. Then again, he could afford to get caught up in the moment only in a handful of places, so Jaehwan was write. An abandoned parking lot was nowhere to be getting lost in his urges, even if it killed the moment. He could wait if it meant they were both into it more and had nothing to be scared of. It just really sucked being stuck behind closed doors all the time. But, his head was hurting again, and he was feeling an urgent need to get a painkiller in his system. Jaehwan wrestles his way over to the other side of the car again, his hands in his lap. Taekwoon feels safe enough to put some music on for the ride home. 

The Tylenol kicks in in the middle of his shower, which feels like a Godsend because his entire side was aching from the fall. There would be bruises forming in the night definitely, which sucked, because those were a clear indication of just how hard he did hit the ground. And he had things to do tonight. While Minyul was still gone, Taekwoon had to contact his great- grandmother and find a way through that labyrinth of a mess. But, he could do it. He would… call her. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

They’ve decided to meet in a public place because the elevator up to his apartment was under maintenance for the week and there was no way that Taekwoon was going to force an elderly woman up those flights of stairs. He barely even wanted to do them, and he was an athlete. (With a sprained ankle and minor head injury that he had diagnosed the day after the incident because Jinsoo forced him to. They gave him a two week recovery period.)

Sunlight blinds his momentarily as he exits the taxi. There was little parking along this stretch of road, and honestly, the driving urge was missing from him. Anxiety, maybe. Doctors’ orders, certainly. He was banned from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle for the first week of his healing, but it meant he could focus on things he wasn’t able to before. Like, the Mapo Bridge that was stretching out in the distance before him. This was a central location for them both, but the cost of the taxi was going to add up on the way home. 

It’s striking when he sees her. While he understood that they hadn’t been face-to-face for a while, the changes that the years had taken upon her were bewildering. The only thing that remained of the fiery, steel-tempered woman from his childhood were her dark chocolate eyes and even those were growing foggy. Her parasol hid much of her from the sun, but that did nothing for the age spots around the sagging skin of her cheeks. Taekwoon felt a pang of pity for the woman until the recognition showed in her face and he realized there was nowhere to hide for the next few hours. Minyul was holding onto his hand, but he was sucking on something from one of his fingers. Taekwoon was praying it wasn’t anything of the mucus variety. 

“Well, look at who’s on time.” Ah, but that voice was still the same. It was the one that had stopped his lawyer in the hallway and argued for custody of Taekwoon’s nephew all those years ago. He may always harbour some anger over that. 

“Yes. It’s almost as if I am a responsible man,” he snaps, but Minyul looks up worriedly at his uncle and Taekwoon knows he has to be wary of his behaviour. Their feud was between adults and there was no reason to be at odds where the child could overhear.

“Yul-ah, do you remember me?” Taekwoon’s grandmother continues, obviously ignoring her grandson’s disposition. She was casting the child a smile that Taekwoon was never a receiver of. Hm, so it was true that the crone really had no good feelings towards him. Whatever. He’d gone this long without her approval.

Shyly, Minyul ducks behind his uncle’s leg, shaking his head. The football player felt some satisfaction at that. He was still the rock in Minyul’s life. This old lady had nothing on him.

“It’s OK, Minyul. This is your great-grandma,” he explains to the child as they make their way closer to the bench situated at the water’s edge. The bench for the lookout onto the Han River is hard looking and the mental image of all the gum stuck on the underside of it sends a shiver up his spine, but Taekwoon relents. 

The two boys take their respective seats across from the woman with the older having to lift Minyul some of the way. His legs just weren’t long enough to make it up yet, but the day was going to come soon when he wouldn’t need his uncle to lend him a hand. Taekwoon could already feel his heart breaking. 

“Do you know what this bridge is called,” the old woman asks them, but Minyul shakes his head.   
“The Bridge of Life. Isn’t that nice?”  
Minyul nods.   
“You’re not mute, are you?” She queries, but there’s no toughness to her tone.   
Minyul shakes his head. “No ma’am.”  
“So polite!” His great-grandmother coos and Taekwoon rubs Minyul’s shoulder with affection. There’s a table separating them, and the top of his nephew’s head barely crosses the top of it, so he has to struggle to see the woman on the other side. 

This leads to an hour of conversation. Not Taekwoon to the woman or vice versa, but the child to his elderly family member. Taekwoon was only needed when Minyul couldn’t think of the words or if he didn’t have an answer. At some point, Minyul starts to warm up to the woman enough that his glances over at his uncle for affirmation become scarce and far between. 

“Minyul, can you do me a favour?” Taekwoon’s grandmother asks.   
“What is it?”  
“Can you go over to that sign over there and tell me what fish is on it? I seem to have forgotten,” the woman requests and when Taekwoon sees that the sign is fairly near, he determines it close enough not to cause him to panic.

“It’s alright, you can do it,” he urges the child and soon Minyul is off in the direction to the side of them and towards the water. 

“Now. We must talk.”  
“About?” Taekwoon wonders aloud with his eyes trained like a hawk on his nephew to make certain of his safety. 

“I’m getting old, Taekwoon.” his gaze flickers to her for a second and he agrees; she looks like it. The skin of her face was surely wilting, wrinkled and grey and freckled. Her eyes aren’t the bright, intelligent kind that he was used to seeing as a boy. Instead, the look reflected in that gaze is one that knows of its imminent passing. That was frightening. He’d be like that one day.

“I’ve made mistakes. I fought with you. I thought he would be better with me. I thought you were not fit to be a parent,” his grandmother goes on, and Taekwoon’s shoulders tense, because even though he was aware of her disposition towards him, she had never said it before to him aloud. “But, I think I see it now. I trust you with him.”

Well, that was unexpected. He blinks at the older woman a few times in bemusement before he realizes that he should probably speak.  
“Thank… you..?” Taekwoon tries. 

His grandmother chuckles while hiding her mouth with the back of her hand. That might be the first time he’s ever heard her laugh in his entire life. This was turning into a very strange week. Dreadfully, it felt like a calm before a tropical storm. Not like the one they just had. That lasted only a few hours, but the rumbling of the thunder had enraptured Taekwoon’s nephew enough for them to stare outside the entire time, waiting for the inevitable touching down of a lightning strike. 

He wants to tell her that she’s not on her deathbed yet. That she has a few more good years left in her, but the odds that those statements would fall on deaf ears were high. The gray- haired lady was speaking to him now because she knew she didn’t have long left. That was a realization that Taekwoon wished hadn’t come over him. 

“Well,” the elderly woman begins again as she reaches for the cane at her side. The black plastic grip on the end is quickly enveloped by her bony hands. “It seems I’ve caused some discomfort.”  
“N-!”

“Hush,” the woman puts her hand up to silence Taekwoon’s hasty rebuttal. “I need to get going. There is a curfew for when you get old like me. If I don’t let your mother know I’ve gotten home safe at a decent hour, she might have a heart attack. We wouldn’t want that.”   
“Mm.”

“Very articulate,” his grandmother comments and Taekwoon gets to his feet so rapidly when she stands that the blood rushes to his head and he needs to grasp onto the edge of the table between them to keep from falling over. 

“Yes. Articulate and well- mannered. Definitely from my side of the family,” she concludes and Taekwoon bows his head. Words had a habit of disappearing when he was around other members of his family. Particularly with those of them whom he’d never really cared for. 

“At least tell me,” his grandmother finally says when he’s helping her into her taxi with Minyul waiting on the sidewalk for them to be done, “are you planning on settling down anytime soon? I would like to see some more great grandchildren before I’m gone.”

“I’m quite busy,” the football player bluntly states.   
“Ah, so you are. I’m asking for your own happiness as well. It’s about time you met someone.”  
“I’m happy the way I am.”  
“Well, starting is half the task,” she warns him, quoting an ancient proverb. Taekwoon restrains his natural bodily function to roll his eyes.  
“Love isn’t a quest for me. It’ll happen with it happens.”

“Oh, Woon-ah, have more motivation!” His grandmother scolds him while waving her cane at him.   
“You’re going to hold up traffic,” Taekwoon points out and his grandmother grunts in disapproval.   
“This youngster dismissing me. Fine! Have it your way. Take care of that son of yours,” the woman tells him as she shuts the door. Within moments, the car has disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the road. 

Well, that was less painful than he thought it would be.  
“We going home now?” Minyul asks him, and Taekwoon confirms that with a squeeze of his nephew’s hand.   
“We sure are. We’ll have chicken for dinner. Does that sound good?”  
“Yep.”

Minyul seems tired. Anyone would be after being subject to the investigative tactics of Taekwoon’s grandmother. He decides to carry Minyul on his back until the cab that he’d called for arrives in front of them. Minyul sleeps for most of the trip home, and Taekwoon might have drifted here and there before they reached their destination. The sun, maybe. He was used to being outside, but the hot days were coming faster than expected. There was no complaining coming from Taekwoon.

In spite of the events of the day, Minyul falls asleep early. Rather than the usual refusal to be put to bed without a myriad of tasks from his uncle, he curls up in his blankets right after Taekwoon gets his pajamas on the right way (rather than backwards, as Minyul was apt to do) and shuts the lights off. Taekwoon did make sure that the child’s night light was functioning before he closed the door. There was no nightmare that a night light couldn’t cure, was what Taekwoon found out during his years of parenthood. 

“Wow, out just like that, huh?” Jaehwan whispers from his position in the kitchen. He was standing with a box of sugar cookies in the middle of the room like he was doing nothing out of the ordinary and Taekwoon can actually feel his pupils constrict. 

“Is diabetes something you can even get?”  
“What’s that now?”  
“Nothing, nevermind,” the human hushes as he opens his fridge to search for his jug of water. Thirst had been a constant for the day, but a reason for it alluded Taekwoon. 

Jaehwan puts his box of cookies back into the cupboard, licking his fingers clean of the topping and shooting Taekwoon a smirk. He knew what he was doing, Taekwoon was sure of it. 

“I just felt like eating those.”  
“You seem to feel that a lot.”  
“They taste good,” Jaehwan argues. Well, yeah, of course they did. They were pure sugar. 

“You keep telling yourself that,” the football player cautions, but Jaehwan doesn’t get the hint. But, he does grab at his chest in a sudden motion, and that sets Taekwoon off.

“You feeling alright?” Taekwoon starts, abrupt change in atmosphere. There’s no answer from the asparas, and Taekwoon is getting frightened. 

“Hey,” he voices as he crosses the tile floor to stop in front of Jaehwan. “What’s wrong? You’re pretty out of it,” the football player comments, waving a hand in front of the fae’s face. There was no flicker of recognition in those dilated pupils, no following the movement, and Taekwoon was struck with instant concern. 

“Jaehwan? Are you sick?” He asks, raising his hand to press the back of his hand against the fae’s forehead. He’s not warm. No temperature. No indication of fever. What..?

“Catch me,” Jaehwan murmurs, his glazed eyes fixing on a point at the side of Taekwoon’s face.

“W-what?” Taekwoon stutters.

And the fae collapses. How Taekwoon moved fast enough to prevent the other man’s body from crumbling to the floor, he wasn’t sure. Adrenaline probably. Jaehwan’s body shudders for a moment before it goes completely still in Taekwoon’s grip. If it weren’t for the steady rise and fall of Jaehwan chest fixed on his trembling form, Taekwoon would think the fae were dead. 

“J-Jaehwan. Hey, this isn’t funny. Hey!” Taekwoon shakes the limp creature, the fae only sitting upright because Taekwoon was holding him in that position. And then he couldn’t anymore.  
The athlete drops from his crouching stance down to his knees, cradling the fae in his arms and desperately smoothing the honey-blond strands of hair away from Jaehwan’s face, searching in a frenzy for a glimmer of something. Anything. Please.

“Please.”

Jaehwan’s face was beginning to pale, devoid of any colour save for the rose pink of his lips and the fan of dark lashes beneath his closed eyes. How was this happening? 

Taekwoon starts to experience something. Deja vu. Something like this situation had occurred before. But, he’s sure it hasn’t. He would remember it. He would remember this feeling. He would remember Jaehwan. Why did he feel like he was losing Jaehwan for a second time?

“Hey, stay with me, OK? I’m gonna...” Taekwoon’s vocals become gradually fainter as he speaks into the otherwise empty room, praying the asparas could hear him. What was he going to do? Jaehwan was one of the FaeFolk; taking him to a human doctor would only get Jaehwan into more trouble than he was now. But, there was no way he could leave the asparas like this as he searched for a solution. Not alone.

Dark irises linger on the face below Taekwoon- a face which was slowly contorting in discomfort even through his spell of whatever this was- and Taekwoon swallowed hard. What? What was there to do? What could he do? 

Taekwoon felt like he was fighting a losing battle. And he was up against the rings. In his embrace, Jaehwan slumbers.


	12. Ictus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is a bit of give and take. Taekwoon gives a bit of himself and gets more taken away.

Excerpt From The Third Work of Han Gyeon (1625)

To be understood as a translation into modern speak of the 20th century. Translation as approved by professors Choi Yongmin and Kim Soyee of Korea University’s Linguistics Department and the International Circle of Korean Linguistics.

The kingdom of warmth was not made of in mimicry. The veil of beauty couldst not conceal the darkeness that we were entering. There was an avid, acrid ambience. Underlying dread. The smiles that greet us journeyers hold falsehoods unlike those of our previous encounter. It is in this moment that I didst doubt our travels as the nauseating sensation of dread lay like a rock in my stomach. 

Our Lady, The Messenger, not a single step did her feet touch upon the ground. Tendrils of mist begin to coil from the ground up and around her in an intricate dance; tantalizing. I began to heare a loathsome sound that reverberated from all around. Its origin I thought to be from the space of mine own mind, until the men startled in hushed tones. We were all aware of the weeping. 

Gut wrenching, clenching and piercing were the emotions dormant moments before. It is the feeling as a door creaks and exposes the opener to pitch blackness. The absence of sound apart from the crunch of crinkling greenery under our feet becomes heavier on our backs as we trek. It is then that I realize how distinctly human I am. 

There is much speculation as to what Han Gyeon was referring to as ‘distinctly human.’ Some say that it is the human qualities that he possesses, such as sympathy or empathy, in such great quantity that he finds himself amiss in a world where people (of the time) were in much distress and, understandably, perhaps more apt to malice. 

[ There are few pages of distinguishable text from the remainder of this series. While Han Gyeon continued to document his experiences as is apparent with the further works of Fourth and Fifth, any excerpts of this specific time period have been lost to the ages. It is with great hope that the researchers and translators at Korea University that readable records will one day be presented to continue the preservation of Han Gyeon’s folk fae tales. Han Gyeon’s Fourth Work consists of a reflection of his thoughts rather than the recount format of his first Three. Less has been salvaged from the following excerpts. The historians’ great fear is that time will have run its course and missing information will never be made available to fill in the vital blanks left to us. ]

Excerpt From The Fourth Work of Han Gyeon (1645)

To be understood as a translation into modern speak of the 20th century. Translation as approved by professors Choi Yongmin and Kim Soyee of Korea University’s Linguistics Department and the International Circle of Korean Linguistics.

There are a great many things that escape my memory. The coming of old age is an inflection no man can run from for long, and the years do take their toll on the mind. Even as the words flow for me now, it is a great pain to recollect.

I have lost time. I have lost friends. I have lost a great ability to move freely. I have lost the knoweledge of what hath been contained in that blinding room besides a towering quilte of white and silk. It must have been the moment I didst become blind in the right of my eyes. 

To become old. That is the hardest. Enduring years tasting of bitter apple/ apologies [ the word itself was unintelligible in the original copy save for the beginning “사” and ending “ㅏ”. As such, the translators have taken it upon themselves to decipher the mystery word into “사과 “, though which connotation is correct will likely remain unknown .] is as painful as the thorn of regret. I wish that I could draw the faces of the three men left behind in that room, but they doth evade my sorrowful mourning all through the long, lonesome nights. Do you heare them calling to you? They beg me, they plead me to bring them back to memorie. 

Their families do not remember. Not so do the brave souls fast in their stead among the Pegasus when we recollect them for the journey home. We are akin with an overwhelming sense of loss. It is I who am aware of their disappeareance for their tally in my records. We should have returned with more. Not knowing hath been the plight of age. 

There is a song that comes with the wind off the moor in the early morning, and with it I believe their voices ring loudest. But, they collide with the cacophony, submerge in the symmetry of Nature’s nurturing croon, and then are gone again. What have I done so horridly to be the man cast under this curse? We should not have set foot along the path of deities. It hath taken near twenty turns of the earth for this Truth to come to Light, and I hope that this warning serves what I have deemed its purpose. 

Tantalizing is the scent of the seductress in the same manner as the Fae who lie beyond the trees. Safe and sound, nestled in a canopy of earth and water there is a cold fire that will burn the flesh from the bone of any man who dare to touch it. Danger lurk within Unknown, and it is not always a Darkeness we hath to fear for they will bring you in with light touches and the promise of satiated curiousity, but the vital constant lost most commonly is man’s humanity.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

The headlines start soon after. Star Player Out Until Further Notice: Suspected Brain Damage, Lucky Leo Down For The Count: Netz Fear The Worst, and so on and so forth in continuous hyperbole. It was all speculation, and terrible speculation at that, because his team had already released a statement on his condition and Taekwoon would be back to practice within the month. When he checks the online forums, they’re full of people who are arguing against one another. Some say he won’t be the same when he returns and others stand by him to fight for his reputation. The whole ordeal was aggravating his perpetual headache. 

Jaehwan was slumbering. Taekwoon had stayed up by his side for the night. He was struck with an inability to surrender to sleep even as the night blended into morning. There was no sun to alert him to the coming of dawn, but there was a gradual warming of colours that filtered into his home even with the grey skies outside. The alarm in Minyul’s room goes off and Taekwoon comes to the realization that he’s going to have to leave Jaehwan, even if it was only for a few hours of him functioning like a proper human being. He knows he looks like shit and he knows he has to go, but it takes everything in his power to stand from his sitting position beside the couch. 

Scrolling through his phone all night had taken a toll on his eyes. When he looks around the room -granted, it’s still very dark because of the lack of indoor lights being turned on- an ache begins to grow from what feels like just behind his irises. Rubbing at his eyes does little to lessen the tension that was building. He gives up. 

Cracking knees and stiff joints are going to plague him; he knows this. Moving sluggishly, and with a lingering glance at the fae still soundly sleeping (he hopes it’s sleep. He’s praying for it) the human drags himself down the hall and turns right to to the door for Minyul’s room. He knocks, because he’s starting to give the kid some more privacy and it was becoming a habit. 

The pajama-ed second grader who was nearing his eight birthday opens the door with an ambience of solemnity that Taekwoon had never experienced. Not from an adult, let alone a child.

“Couwldn’t sleep,” his nephew slurs and Taekwoon kneels down in front of the kid. 

“Bad dreams?” He prompts. Minyul shakes his head. Hm.

“Do you feel alright?” Minyul nods. Weird. Taekwoon rests the back of his hand against his nephew’s forehead. There’s no fever, and Minyul stares back at him with eyes that are alert. 

“Ready for school?”

“Almost.” And then Minyul turns so that he can grab his uniform and change. Taekwoon shuts the door and straightens up. He should make them something to eat. They had to eat. They had to eat to survive. He should make food.

He’s rooted to the spot for another moment while he processes these ideas before turning on his heel in a robotic fashion to go into the kitchen.

The silence is deafening. Usually by this time, Jaehwan is annoying him by humming at an obscenely loud volume and with too joyous a tone for the early morning. Taekwoon had had to become a morning person; it didn’t mean he was naturally so. 

“Uncle Ta?” The small voice comes from behind him and Taekwoon turns like a man who’s a corpse to the tiny- framed figure with the big eyes.  
“Yeah, kiddo?” Taekwoon urges, stooping down to get eye level with his nephew. The child holds back for a second, but his courage takes over, it seems like.  
“Is Whannie OK?”

He’s at a loss at how to respond. Here he was, the adult in the situation, faced with an innocent inquiry, but there was no coherent set of words forming on his tongue.  
“Yeah, of course,” the grown man lies through gritted teeth. “Why?”

“...” Some more silence from the child and that gets Taekwoon right to the edge of his sanity, right before falling off the brink.  
“Is Whannie going away?” (Even the speculation brought a dryness to the football player’s throat.)

“No, I don’t think so. Is that what you were dreaming about?” Taekwoon knows his nephew well enough by now to recognize the patterns here. Minyul nods, not to his uncle’s surprise.

In a fit, because it has suddenly become 7am and Taekwoon is very tired and his mind has become quite muddled, he sits on the hard tiled floor of the kitchen and opens his arms out to the child. Minyul takes no time in rushing into the embrace and allowing himself to surrender to it, like he was waiting for his uncle to do just that.  
In the distance, a faint rumbling.

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

Taekwoon, after dropping Minyul off at school and informing the boy that Jaehwan had stayed up too late the night before and that was why he hadn't woken up to say goodbye, is sitting in his car and staring at his dashboard. The school is bustling with kids of all ages, though none over 14 that he can tell, which would make sense for the way grades were structured at this school. At first he told himself that he was waiting for the rush to die down because he was tired and that meant he was at a higher risk of hitting someone. Then, when the noises faded away and the first bell rang for the day and there was not a soul in sight, Taekwoon reasoned that he was still there because his car was warming up. Though, it had been running for some time and that had to be bad for the battery. In the half hour of solitude in his vehicle sitting at the side of the road, Taekwoon continued to make excuses not to go back to his apartment. The last time he went through something similar was before the fae came into his life. When there was no one to greet him at home. When there was no promise of something more. 

A fit of frustration has him slamming his palms against the side of his steering wheel, just narrowly missing the central piece that would set of the horn. In a normal situation with a fellow human being he would be completely fine. He could call this something like dealing with a drunk friend, and he'd had a few nights of those. 

In his head, this was a jumbie of puzzle pieces that never fit together quite right. The worst part of it was that he could think of possibilities, but the odds of the situation panning out the way he wanted rarely ever went in his favour in these metaphorical scenarios. He had to stop speculating. He should leave that to professionals. 

Whirring noises begin to grow louder with every prolonged minute; proof that even Taekwoon’s car was growing unimpressed. He had to go. He didn't want to. It was necessary, but he hated it. 

The football player does a check of his rear view mirror before putting his blinker on and moving into the street. A few turns later and he's into the flow of traffic so there's no break for him to think of anything other than not hitting the truck or Subaru or Hyundai in front of him. He does start to memorize license plate numbers for some reason.  
Taekwoon also stops once. He grabs his emergency hoodie and face mask from behind him in the back seat and hurriedly slips them on in the car so he can go through the pharmacy in peace. He looked terrible and he felt terrible and other people seeing him being and looking terrible would be… bad for him at the moment. (Especially when there was a cult following on the internet who believed he was on his deathbed. Absurd.) 

Poppy seeds. They were a natural painkiller and induced drowsiness. Honey nectar because it aided in sore throats and was sweet enough that it should curb any of Jaehwan’s cravings for sugar. The thing that Taekwoon is most pleased and surprised to find is bromelain, for soreness and swelling. The mysterious illness that ailed his fae… would hopefully be eradicated through his small arsenal. Taekwoon sincerely hopes so, because his basket earns him a queer glance from the cashier, but that soon turns back into false cheeriness and true boredom to his delight. 

Feeling a smidge better, Taekwoon trudges his way up the flight of stairs, all the while ignoring the pained protests of the muscles in his thighs and the lingering ringing in his ears. This confidence is short lasted. 

Jaehwan is gone.  
He isn't on the couch.  
He isn't in the bathroom. The bedroom. The kitchen. He's not even in Minyul’s room, or outside on the tiny ledge that was supposed to be a balcony but was really the resting place of Taekwoon’s neighbour's forgotten botanicals. He was just… gone. 

Taekwoon goes into a full blown panic. The bag crashes to the floor, likely breaking some jars of natural herbal remedies as he tears apart his home. Jaehwan could become so small, what if he was trapped somewhere, slowly suffocating and too weak to morph? Taekwoon’s heart leaps into his throat. 

He's not there. After an hour or so of searching and calling, Jaehwan still isn't there. Taekwoon sinks to his knees, his shoulders hunched with a weariness that was so much heavier than defeat. With lead fingers -and a moment of clarity- he texts Jinsoo.  
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] I need your help.  
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] He's gone.  
[SMS: Jinnie-yah] He's gone what do I do.  
What can he do?  
Jinsoo calls him instead of texting him, which is good.  
“What's going on?”  
“He's gone.” Taekwoon is hollow.  
“Gone where?”  
“I don't know. I can't find him.”  
“Did you get his work schedule?”  
Oh, Jinsoo is such a good friend.  
“I…”  
But the other line is silent until his teammate sighs.

“I know there's something you can't tell me, ok? You're the worst at keeping a secret. And I know you wouldn't call me if something fucked up wasn't happening, but can you call him? It’s the twenty first century.” Jinsoo’s voice contains exasperation. Taekwoon had not thought to call the fae. 

“I-I'll try.” He states.  
“Good. Call me if he doesn't pick up and text me if he does, alright?”  
“Mm.”  
“Okay.” And Jinsoo hangs up.  
Taekwoon lingers there with the phone at his ear, just holding it as it gradually warms. He’s shaking. When did that start? And he’s so terrified he can hardly breathe. He can’t breathe, in fact. He’s having a very difficult time of it. Nausea is sweeping over him at an alarming rate and Taekwoon doubles over as he tries to take in just one more huff of air, something to keep him afloat. There are stars dancing around his eyes and his heart is hammering against his ribcage and time stands very still for the few seconds where he cannot breathe. 

His fingers become threaded in his hair and tug at the strands hard. Distantly, a clatter as his phone falls to the floor. He has a last completely clear train of thought before the stars dance in front of his eyes. He really hoped the screen wasn’t shattered. 

The moment passes. Taekwoon starts to inhale again. Once. Twice. The breaths come easier. Three times, then four. His tunnel vision fade and he uncurls himself from the position he fell into, with his knees tucked up against his chin. The last time he had a panic attack was in his teens. He’d done research online to cope and it was working up until now. He should give himself another minute to recuperate but he feels like he’s on a ticking clock.  
Before he can fall into another stupor, Taekwoon scrolls through his contacts. His phone was OK. He was OK. Things were going to be OK. He keeps telling himself this as the ringing goes on.  
“Yeah, it-”  
“Jaehwan!”  
“S me! Um? Message?” A beep and the voice is gone. Voicemail. The dread creeps up on him again and prickles at his flesh, raising the hairs on his skin.  
“What now..?” Taekwoon wonders to himself aloud. He’s staring at a wall now and he hates the whiteness of it. It’s so plain. He should have let Jaehwan paint it when he asked. (How long ago was that?)

Taekwoon needs to go. He needs to know for sure. If Jaehwan isn’t there- if he’s not at the cafe- he really will be out of options. There’s no backup plan. He needs Jaehwan to be there, or he’s not sure where his wobbling legs will carry him to next. 

It would be faster to drive. But his legs are trembling so violently he would have trouble putting on the gas, let alone the brake. He nearly flies down the flights of stairs as he goes, so he might as well just make a run for it, right? 

Busy. It’s so busy. Don’t people know that he needs to go? He ducks and weaves through masses of bodies with his long legs coming in handy, because everyone is moving so sluggishly. Like a current, and he’s paddling in the opposite direction, desperate to escape the waves. 

Breaking free! Taekwoon finds salvation in empty pockets between the crowds. There’s honking and talking and clanking and tinkling coming from all around him and he needs to get away from it right now. 

What feels like days later, he’s standing in front of the hole-in-the-wall cafe. It is empty down this side street. The lights of the cafe out front faintly illuminate it and cast an eerie glow. Usually, when the sun is shining, the place was welcoming. Now, it was like a tomb. As though Taekwoon is striding into his final resting place. 

When he opens the door, it smells the same. It’s normal. It’s homey.  
“Welco-! Oh.” The blond man. That wretched man. Taekwoon is going to lose his mind.

“You.” He utters instead in accusation because he’s a literate man of good upbringing and education.

The fae is in a state of shock. Taekwoon knows it because their expressions are mirror images of each other. Sooyoung interjects because she’s been standing beside Jaehwan and of course she was going to. 

“Somethin’ the matter fellas?” And Taekwoon knows she can tell something is off; but he can’t tear his eyes away from the dirty blond man cleaning glass cups.  
The man in the spotlight seems to have no problem though, because Jaehwan gives his boss his full attention. 

“Sorry, could we have a minute?” He says in that silky voice and low timbre and Taekwoon bristles. In another life, his hackles are raising. 

“Mm, I guess so. No lover’s quarrels, deal? I don't have the budget to get blood outta the rug in there,” she jokes. Jaehwan laughs. Taekwoon doesn't. He only follows when the fae tries to disappear behind the employee lounge door. 

“You!” He barks immediately after the wooden slab shuts the two inside the room together. It's dimly lit in here, not fluorescent. 

“I know! I know! I should've told you I was here,” the asparas admits. “I just knew you'd freak out and that you wouldn't want me to leave but I didn't want to be stuck in there anymore.”  
“Stuck?” Taekwoon repeats. “Stuck?! You were comatose.” God he wants to yell. He wants to shout from the center of his being; he wants to yell until Jaehwan understands.  
“What’re you not telling me?”  
“Nothing I don’t know.”

“That’s not a real answer!” Taekwoon’s voice starts to raise again and he claps a hand over his mouth quickly. Keep it down. You’re an adult in the public eye, he reminds himself. The walls of this room were likely thinner than his own at the apartment, which wasn't saying much. Jaehwan goes quiet and Taekwoon takes a deep breath. This was not the way, apparently. 

“We’re going to have a talk later, and you’re going to tell me whatever it is that’s going on,” he starts. Jaehwan won’t meet his eye, which is an indicator to Taekwoon that there were more secrets. He knew he’d told Jaehwan they would take this at his pace, but if it meant putting his health at risk, he was going to push. 

The asparas tilts his head forward eventually and Taekwoon figures that’s the best answer he’s going to get. He wouldn’t force the fae to talk. It would just be nice if he got some information so they weren’t suffering. 

“Minyul’s worried about you, too,” he tells Jaehwan. “He kept asking me if you were going to be OK. I told him yes, but I don’t want to lie to him,” Taekwoon states. Sure, he was guilting Jaehwan a little bit, but didn’t he deserve it? (In his heart of hearts, the human knows he shouldn’t be goading the fae like this, but he’s upset. He’s not thinking with a clear mind.)

Jaehwan sighs. He looks so… dejected. Taekwoon keeps a watchful eye on the asparas whose complexion is still of an ashen likelihood of himself. Clay. If a sculpture were to capture Jaehwan’s form in the art, it would look like this, and Taekwoon would hate it with a passion unrivaled by any other. 

The silence hangs heavily over them. Distantly, even though it’s only the wall at the end of the room above the door, a clock ticks as the seconds go by. With every tick tick tick the silence stretches and the human submits himself to the moment. He should go. Sooyoung could probably hear everything from her side of the door, and Taekwoon bites down on the inside of his cheek hard to reel himself in. Fuck, please don't let him face be overly red. 

“I've been feeling a bit off,” Jaehwan admits to him. The human bites back a sarcastic response just by the skin of his teeth. 

“You didn't say anything,” he prods. The fae ducks his head. Shame? Embarrassment?

“It was really just tiredness. I was sleepy.” 

“I know,” Taekwoon gripes. Jaehwan looks exhausted now, but there is something else under that woeful exterior. He has a pallor of sickness to him. It would be no surprise to Taekwoon if he suddenly broke out into a cold sweat and repeated the events of the previous night. 

“How long?”  
“A few hours. Regular shift.”  
“Come back early if you can. Please.” Was that too much for Taekwoon to ask?  
“Alright.” It was so unlike Jaehwan to say that. He would nod. He would grin. He looked so drained of life. It was hurting Taekwoon’s heart just to look at him. But the relief is worth it. 

The fae was alive, and that’s what mattered to him. For the moment, he was content. Taekwoon leaves with that in mind. Sooyoung waves at him, asks him if he wants a cookie first -which he declines- and then cheerfully wishes him luck. For what, he’s unsure, but it does cause a lifting of his spirits, if only slightly. 

When they’re at home, after Jaehwan comes back and they’ve said their hellos like nothing had gone wrong, the fae suggests they talk in the bedroom. That’s fine. It’s nice in there. The bed is soft and the sheets are warm. Jaehwan bundles himself up in a comforter immediately after changing into loose clothes. 

“Are you cold?” Taekwoon worries.  
“Nah, this just feels nice,” Jaehwan smiles sweetly and Taekwoon shuts his mouth. What kind of a bleeding heart had he become? 

The asparas isn’t beside him at the head of the bed, much to Taekwoon’s disdain. Instead, he’s sitting with his legs hanging off the end of it, the farthest away that he can be given the few feet that was left between them. 

Taekwoon allows the muted atmosphere to settle. Jaehwan will talk. It’s still early. He throws himself onto his back against the pile of blankets above the cushioning of his head as he stares up at the ceiling. There’s peeling plaster at the corners of his room, but the infrastructure in his building was sound. Perhaps it was the wear of time. Time made him as weary as anything else. 

“I think… I might need to.. Gbck.”  
“Hm? Taekwoon misses most of that because he’s starting to daydream. Not about anything fantastical or awesome, but about how he’s going to win the argument with his landlord about filling the plaster.

Jaehwan takes a deep breath, and that’s distressing.  
“I think I might need to go back. Just for a little bit. I’ve been really tired and stuff,” Jaehwan repeats as he fiddles with the loose threads at the top of his shirt. One thing stays stuck in Taekwoon’s head, though.  
The fae was going to leave him.  
With vacillation, Taekwoon rises to a sitting position.  
“Is it because you’re here?” He asks because he needs to know even if the answer to his question could break his heart.

“Maybe. Not sure,” Jaehwan tells him. The uncertainty is the worst part. Firstly, because Taekwoon is assuming that the fae isn’t lying to him to spare his feelings and secondly because there’s the underlying possibility that the sickness ailing the asparas had something to do with being around him in his world. They were standing at a precipice. 

“How… what are you going to do?” There was nothing in Taekwoon’s will that would stop Jaehwan, not if it meant preventing another scare like he’d had. One night of lost sleep was enough to have him in near hysterics. 

“Well, as my giall I need your permission.” And Jaehwan fixes upon the human such an austere stare that Taekwoon gulps.  
“I don’t think that was in the contract.”  
“I need you to release me from the contract,” the fae informs him.  
“I thought the contract was pretty much out of my control?” Taekwoon knows that he would have rid himself of the fae in the first few weeks of their getting to know one another if he knew of a sudden nullification ceremony. 

“Not breaking the contract. It’s basically letting me go for a bit then I’m supposed to come back,” Jaehwan informs.

“So, your coming back is a definite?” The football player reaffirms.  
“I-It should be.” But Jaehwan stutters and Taekwoon shifts towards the asparas who is now perching on the edge of the bed. It’s almost as though he’s getting ready to run if the situation turns. A caged wild animal. Was Taekwoon making him feel this way?

“Just tell me what I have to do. We can get through this.” And the promise comes through in his tone, but the belief in Taekwoon’s heart is fraud. 

To his shock, Jaehwan shakes his blond head.  
“I can deal with this if you give me a bit. Just don’t worry about it.”  
“Not gonna happen.”  
“You’re so stubborn,” Jaehwan is exasperated and Taekwoon allows a small upturn of lip to grace his features. 

“You’ve dealt with my stubbornness so far,” he points out, and the fae has no answer. He’s fiddling with his fingers, rotating his thumbs around each other; something that’s puzzling him that he won’t grieve Taekwoon with.

“Please, Jaehwan. I want to help you. Let me help,” he urges in a soft tone, patting the empty space next to him on the bed. But I'm not going to lose you either, he adds. Not out loud. Taekwoon is awful about that. 

Jaehwan, with creaking bed springs following his every move, does maneuver across the covers to slide in beside the human. Where he belongs. Afraid that the fae will abruptly dissipate into the air, Taekwoon wraps his arms around the other man’s shoulders. The bones that are protruding even through the shirt create a lump in his throat. Jaehwan rests his head against Taekwoon’s shoulder. 

“Will you come with me?” The asparas asks him.  
“If you want me to,” Taekwoon  
“Yeah. I don't… being alone would suck if it doesn't work.”  
“For sure.”  
“So, back where we met. That’s so weird,” Jaehwan states with awestruck inflection.  
Taekwoon is confused. “Where we met?"  
The fae, with solid brown irises, gazes up at him.  
“No. Nevermind,” the fae decides on, riling Taekwoon up. He doesn’t press the issue.  
Instead, when they fall asleep that night, he holds onto Jaehwan’s dreaming body and tries to memorize the details of his face long into the early hours. Sleep evades him. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“This is it?” Taekwoon is incredulous. Minyul was at school again after Taekwoon explained to him that Whannie-Hyung was going on vacation. With family. And even though Minyul was smart, he was still a child, so he believed his uncle- he did hug Jaehwan very tightly before he left, though. For all of their sakes, Taekwoon prayed that this worked. 

“Oh, you do remember it!” Jaehwan grins with more liveliness than he’d had in a while. They were back at Hallyeohaesang National Marine Park, where months earlier, Taekwoon had plucked a child from the sea and begun this turn of events that would change his life. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I remember it.”  
“Everything is so blue here. I love it,” the fae remarks. Taekwoon gazes around, surveying the colours.  
“Uhh, what do you mean?” There are only trees around him, and sure he can hear the sea, but that’s distant. Not visible.

“Look up. The shades. Don’t you see them?” The asparas encourages so Taekwoon raises his eyes.  
“The sky.”  
“Yes.”  
“It’s solid to me. Solid blue.”

The fae shakes his head. “It fades. At the end, it’s so light, it’s almost white. You can’t see it?”

“It just looks like a sky to me.”

“Hmph.” Jaehwan isn’t discontent, but Taekwoon is. What is it that he can’t see? The sky is blue. That’s really all it is. There are no clouds to obscure it; the only thing to break the peace of the day was the giant glowing orb in the sky that was the sun. 

“It’s too warm,” he hears Jaehwan say. The windows stayed rolled down even when the car was put into park and there was a pleasant breeze carried across the seats. It was delishly cooling. 

“How long?” And he’s scared to know but it’s going to happen. Taekwoon… he’s tried to prepare himself as best as he can because he was never one to cry over nothing. He felt like he wanted to, but his body was refusing it; the sweet release of fallen tears. 

“Now. If I can.” Like he’s asking for the human’s permission. Taekwoon would grant it in a heartbeat. Because it was Jaehwan asking. 

There’s no guarantee that his voice will remain stable if Taekwoon speaks, so he inclines his head, a yes, as he hits the button on the car door to unlock the vehicle and let the fae out. Like he was escaping. Like he was fleeing from the human. And, while Taekwoon knew that his was not the case, it did feel that way. As though he were holding Jaehwan prisoner until he could be set loose again. 

Jaehwan’s shoulders visibly raise as he inhales a long breath of the fresh air. When Taekwoon looks at him, he’s struck by an overwhelming deja, this has already been done. In a flash, he recalls the face he made out in the underbrush all of those months ago, before he was tasked with the fae. (Another horrifying thought: Was this a Stockholm Syndrome situation? Did Jaehwan develop feelings for him because he was left with Taekwoon with no way out? That would made the human sick to his stomach.)

The fae was itching to move. Taekwoon could tell by the thumping of his foot against the ground. It’s too quiet here anyway. His head was being too loud. Through an unspoken cue, Jaehwan begins his trek. 

They start on the trail heavily trodden. The one with no branches or greenery to prevent them from moving forward- from blocking their way. It’s familiar. It’s the path the school group had taken. It must not be the season for the schools to be taking trips here now, because all is silent, save for the occasional wisp of wind through the trees or rustle of branches while small creatures scurry in fright at the sound of heavy footsteps of the predator. 

They continue like this, with Jaehwan in the lead and Taekwoon dragging behind. The farther they went, the closer they came to the site where it all started. But, Jaehwan starts to deviate from the path and suddenly ducks through some underbrush. It catches Taekwoon across the cheek and the human hears Jaehwan chuckle when he tries to follow. Even though he hasn’t said a word, Taekwoon continues to follow.

To his shock, Jaehwan brings Taekwoon to another, less frequently used trail. He can tell. Here the trees become mottled and freckled with age, their leaves sagging low to the ground in sad symmetry. This feels old. This feels ancient. Taekwoon has a sudden awareness of his disconnect with the world around him. He doesn’t belong here.

Jaehwan does. This fact is apparent with his ease. The gleam in his eyes, there’s hope. There’s comfort. He walks with confidence now and a lack of slump in his step. The fae grows stronger the deeper they disappear into the wilderness. 

(What could Taekwoon have been thinking?) 

It was like watching a caged cobra escape the confines of its prison. 

Momentarily, the human looks back for a marker that would show him the way out were he of the need to run. The bush they’d pushed through is still there and clearly visible, giving him some satisfaction.

The problem is when he switches position to get a hold of his guide. It causes Taekwoon to stop in place, because the fae has disappeared. No sound of crashing footsteps or sign that the asparas had gone in any direction. He listens to nothing. He looks at nothing. It’s as though Jaehwan and him were on separate sides of an invisible wall. 

Taekwoon is all alone again.


	13. Hyaloid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If he never knew.

“You made it through the double elimination?!”

“Barely! We coulda used you out there, man. But, yeah, when you come back, we’ve got two, maybe three, more games til semis.” Jinsoo sucks down on the straw in front of him.Taekwoon stares as the tapioca balls at the bottom of the light grey tea travel up the cavity only to be consumed by the other athlete. 

“We’ve got a run for first this year so far. Our goal-scoring is waaay higher than last year because of you n’ Hyuk,” his friend is telling him.

“Wow.” Taekwoon is dazed. This should be like a dream come true. It’s wrong, though. The normal sensations of bliss and euphoria that should be overwhelming his senses are just tingling, prickling at the edges of his subconscious. There’s something missing.

(Are you searching again? Or are you just… waiting…)

It’s all he can do now. Wait. Wait and be useless. Thankfully, Jinsoo -who Taekwoon realizes has become his best friend in the whole world- had told him they were going to meet up for meat and drinks. Not asked. No. Jinsoo did not do that. He texted his teammate the time and place and told Taekwoon to be there, and Taekwoon did not dare to fail at showing up.

“So, how’s the vacation?” The other man asks to drag Taekwoon out of his own head. “Your head still bugging you?”

“Not as much. Next appointment is… three days.” 

“That’s not too bad,” Jinsoo remarks and Taekwoon shakes his head. An agreement. Three more days and then he would have the closing statement from his doctor. With the way his league was structured, he needed to have absolute certainty from a professional. It was the accepted practice to be followed so he could be deemed fit to play following a documentary that came out a few years previous. Something about research into head trauma and professional sports players and aggression later on in their lives. 

“Hey…” And Jinsoo’s voice drops to a slower and more apprehensive tone. “Are you really OK? I mean, like, really OK? Not just decent?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Taekwoon shrugs. He’s glad he has the drink in front of him, because he can use the action of sipping at it to hide from the imploring gaze coming from the man across the table. If there was anything he really did not want in this moment, it was Jinsoo analyzing him. Again. 

“Where’d you say he went? A family thing, right?” His friend continues to prod and Taekwoon’s eyes close for second longer than necessary as he gathers his bearings.   
“Mhm.”  
“How long?”  
“Not sure.”  
“Shit.”  
“Language,” Taekwoon hisses with narrowed eyes and Jinsoo leans back in his seat. Annoyingly, the other man just lets out a short, low whistle under his breath.   
“You’ve really got it bad to be this fucked up,” the other human comments and Taekwoon is hardly able to resist the urge to suplex him through the table. 

“Language,” he repeats. The tea is actually satisfying and he would like to be able to savour it rather than have it soiled by indignation.   
“You’re such a dad.”  
“I’m an uncle.”  
“Nah, you’re a dad. We all call him your kid, not your nephew. Just accept it,” Jinsoo instructs him and Taekwoon clenches down on his straw just a shred harder than necessary. It pops, and he pulls the straw nearly out of the cup to inspect the damage. He’s made a hole in the middle of it. The slit wasn’t enough to stop the liquid from moving up the straw, but it was damning. 

“Why aren’t you eating?” Jinsoo reprimands him. Taekwoon huffs.  
“I am.”  
“You’re not.”  
Taekwoon has never felt he needed to growl before, but there was a first time for everything.   
“Can you stop being my parent now?”

“Gotta parent the parent, you know,” his friend chirps cheerfully and Taekwoon pushing his plate away so that he can rest his forehead against the cool top of the table. It feels nice. Relaxing. Soothing. 

“That’s probably got so many germs on it. Gross.”  
He really is going to punch Jinsoo one of these days. Not right now. But very, very soon.   
“I don't need your irrelevant commentary,” Taekwoon mumbles, but doubtless it sounds like a garbled mess to the man opposite him. 

“Hey, Kiddo!” Taekwoon lifts his head up rapidly when he hears that and he does see that Minyul is back from his trip to the washroom. The doors were close by. Taekwoon would have seen if anyone suspicious walked in, and his nephew wanted to go alone more often than not these days. 

It’s been a week and four days. Taekwoon had not spent long searching for Jaehwan after his disappearance. Inside of him, there was a voice repeating that there was no point, that his efforts would be futile, and that was he going to be without the fae for a long, long time. He sincerely hoped that the last part did not ring true. He might go mad if it turned out to be. 

“Hello,” Minyul greets them, shuffling into his chair beside his uncle. The child’s own tea came with a shorter straw so he could hold it in his lap and there would be less chance of a spill. Taekwoon hands Minyul the strawberry flavoured substance, which the kid starts to chug down greedily. What a cutie. 

“How’s school going?” Jinsoo asks Minyul with his arms propped on the tabletop so he wasn’t leering over the boy if he tried to get closer. 

“Good. We made pictures yesterday.”  
“Oh yeah, I heard you’re good at that!”   
“Really good,” Taekwoon affirms, rubbing Minyul’s back with his free hand. He didn’t notice, but there was a legitimate smile creeping across his lips. 

“Think I’d be able to get one? I need something to hang on my fridge,” his teammate remarks. Minyul beams at that all while nodding enthusiastically. His drink froths dangerously in his cup with the harsh movement, and his caretaker has a napkin ready for if anything sticky did happen. He hated being one of those parents that left a mess everywhere they went. 

“Are you still hungry?” His uncle asks the child and receives a head shake in response. That was fine. He’d eaten most of what he was given. Taekwoon didn’t expect Minyul to consume adult portions at this point in his life. 

“You guys have some plans after this?” Jinsoo prods. They actually did have plans. Something Taekwoon had been putting off for a while, but that he figured was time to get over with. 

“Yeah, we’re heading to Seoul for a couple days. Some stuff to take care of.” And Jinsoo doesn’t comment any further. Maybe it was the way Taekwoon said it. 

“Well, I’m gonna need to get going pretty quick, anyway. They keep drilling us hard; no time to rest. I’m gonna be glad when you’re back, man,” Taekwoon’s friend admits. The knowledge that someone was waiting for him was causing an improved mood, too. 

The ‘pretty quick’ comes ‘fairly soon’, and the nephew-adult duo are in Taekwoon’s car with bellies still full.

“Ta?” Minyul calls from the backseat and Taekwoon raises his eyes for a split second to glance into the rearview mirror where he can see the child staring out the window and playing with the line of his seatbelt.   
“Yeah?”   
“Are we gonna see Auntie again?”  
“Yeah, we are. And grandma, too.”  
“Ok.”  
“Are you excited?” Taekwoon chances. From his peripheral, he sees Minyul nod, but it’s hesitant.  
“Are you scared?”   
“Nuh uh.” Well, that was familiar. Taekwoon chuckles.   
“Good. I know they really want to see you. They might even pinch your cheeks,” he warns and Minyul’s sour face has him laughing aloud.   
Yeah, maybe he wasn’t as alone as he felt. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

His home is essentially as he remembers it. Greying and chipping brick peel away from a well-used dark grey door whose colour was faded with age and use. The home itself was a sore thumb in an industrial suburb where skyrises were becoming the norm, but Taekwoon was sure his parents were stubbornly refusing to give it up out of spite for contractors. The beef they had was between them and he didn’t need to know about it.

Knocking on the door feels weird, though. This was his home- or, it had been for a while. They don’t need to wait very long.

“Oooh, look at you! You’re so big!”   
Taekwoon’s mother is a slight women who often wears her hair in a bun or ponytail. She is currently sporting a style that is popular; high pants and a loose-fitted plain-coloured shirt. This one is red. It suits her nicely, her son thinks. 

Driving from Incheon to Yangjae-Dong can be a rough ride. This time around it was so exception, and Taekwoon felt exhaustion seeping into his bones. They’d arrived later than he initially planned, but that fact wasn’t bothering his mother. She was preoccupied with gushing over her grandson, and he was loving every moment of the attention. 

Taekwoon drops their bags- only a few of them since they were only going to be staying two nights- near to the front door so that they’re just out of the way of the entrance as soon as they’re able to cross the threshold into the house. Knowing himself, he’d trip over them at some point. 

“Taekwoon,” is the rough voice he hears besides his mothers, and the man mentioned looks up from kicking his shoes off into a pair of bold, aging eyes that have been oh-so-very missed.

“Hello, Dad,” he greets. They envelop gruffly and briefly, with Taekwoon's father patting him roughly on the back before breaking the hug. 

“It's been too long,” the older man states. Taekwoon winces.

“Yeah, it's been… busy,” he excuses lazily as he raises a hand to brush it through his wind-tousled hair. 

“Mm. I remember what it was like for us when you were in grade school. I understand.” The football player lets out a short breath of relief at his father’s reply. 

“Still, you could come and see us more when this one’s got breaks from school,” his mother chimes in, having spared a second away from her grandson to break into the other conversation. 

“I-I'll try to. Often there're sports things I have to do.” Taekwoon really does feel badly. He was lucky if he was able to see his parents more than three or four times a year nowadays. Then again, it makes visiting all the more worthwhile. 

Maybe his mother had figured pressing was a waste of her time, because all she does is shake his head before wrapping her arms around her son’s waist to pull him close. She’s still so much smaller than he is. They both are. Becoming more stooped in their posture made his parents seem even shorter, which was probably a pain of aging. It still tore at his heart. 

She lets him go after a short while because all he can really give her in return is a squeeze of her shoulders given the height difference. He knew it wasn’t what she wanted, but it was satisfying enough.   
“Come, let’s get you settled in.” And that’s the end of that.

The next morning- after sleeping fitfully because Taekwoon was experiencing an ongoing existential crisis from being in his schoolboy bedroom- is when the rest of the family unit arrives. Or, the immediate family. His sister and her fiance were accompanying them on this important day. They were going to visit Her.

They did this every year if they could and their schedules were open. There was only one year when they had missed it, and Taekwoon had been so wracked with guilt for the following months that he vowed to never allow that to happen again. The rest of his family felt much the same. 

Now, Minyul had an idea of what they were going to do. Previously, his uncle had been spared explaining the why factor. He wasn’t so lucky last time. 

Minyul has on his plain black shirt that he was careful not to crease. He said he wanted to look good and Taekwoon understood why. He’d done the same.

The somber mood isn’t unnoticed, but also not overpowering. Taekwoon hugs his eldest sister just the same way when he has the chance to see her and he shakes her fiance’s hand. Their engagement was lasting a good while since they were unsure where to have it and because of a health scare earlier in their relationship. It was smooth sailing now. Taekwoon was certain he would be getting an invitation in the mail any day.

“You look good, Lil Bro,” she tells him when they have a moment alone. The couple were having breakfast with the rest of them and it felt normal. Taekwoon missed this nuclear dynamic more than he wanted to admit. 

“Thanks,” he mumbles through a mouthful of scrambled eggs and she snorts at him. Needless to say, she wasn’t where he got his manners from. Minyul starts laughing at something and Taekwoon spares a glance. His soon to be brother-in-law was doing something with his hands so that his thumb looked as though it were detaching and reattaching. Neat. 

“Are you worried?” His sister asks him, this time in a much quieter voice. Taekwoon gulps. The eggs are scalding down his throat. That was a mistake. He’s able to shrug as he gulps down the iced water cup to his right. 

“It’s not a secret. He’s gonna know. I just…” he trails off, but his sister nods. She gets it. Of course she does.

“He’s got a parent in you. Sure, he’s missing out on what we got to know, but we can’t play God,” she grins. Their eye smile runs in the bloodline. “No matter how much we want to.”

It’s up to them two to clean the remnants of food from the table and put the dishes in their proper places. That’s fine. They used to do that as kids, but not as fast. Usually, they’d spend ten or twenty minutes arguing about who was going to do what. Taekwoon always called drying the dishes and putting them away because he hated when the gross, wet food left in the sink touched his skin. He’d eventually grown out of that disgust when he was living by himself. It was showing at the moment, because there was no argument and he simply went to soaping up the washcloth and attacking the pile of dishes beside the sink. The water was soapy and warm, which was actually pleasant, and the repetitive circular motion that came with wiping down plates was calming. He could have a few more moments of peace before they had to leave. Even then, his parents were helping Minyul to get his shoes and jacket on because the weather report called for light rain. That was alright. It was boundlessly better than the day it poured and they were stranded in the mud and gunk of the earth until their taxi arrived. (They were taking two vehicles this time to avoid that same situation). 

When his sister rests her hand on the small of his back, he knows it’s time. A part of him was dreading this, but a much larger part was in a state of immense relief. The sink is drained and the last vestiges of breakfast that stuck to the metal were peeled away and thrown into the trash before he turned to join up with the rest of his family. 

Minyul grabs onto his hand immediately, but all Taekwoon does is clasp onto it gently. This was a rare time when he was unable to tell what his nephew was feeling. Should he comfort the boy? Reassure him? Taekwoon slips on his own black dress boots hastily. Everyone is waiting for him at the cars save for his mother, who was locking up behind them. 

Taekwoon seats Minyul beside him in the back of his parents’ sedan. The booster seat left him just enough room to squeeze in, but he could manage. The drive is only slightly suffocating, and his parents play old tunes from their time for the duration. Minyul is suspiciously silent.

“Uncle Ta?” He starts when the vehicle pulls into the recently freshly paved lot to the cemetery. The gloom of the grey sky above contrasted with the black void that was new pavement.   
“Yeah, kiddo?” Taekwoon answers as he undoes the buckles to the booster closest to him while Minyul frees himself from the other side.   
“We’re visiting Mom today?”   
“Yeah, we are.”  
“I didn't bring my drawings to show her,” Minyul mutters aloud.   
“We can bring some next time,” Taekwoon vows.   
“Think she'll like them?”  
“For sure,” his uncle reassures. Minyul hops out of his opening door and Taekwoon follows after. 

The four of them wait for Taekwoon’s sister and her fiance to get there before crossing the barrier between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. Cemeteries had no creepiness to him anymore. Instead, when Taekwoon saw one, he was often filled with a longing he could never place. Something was missing and void, but never fully, only partly. 

Minyul grabs into him again, but Taekwoon lifts him up instead. He was heavier than Taekwoon anticipated, but that did little to stop him, and the little pudgy arms wrapping around his neck encouraged the adult. They would get through this. 

His sister’s grave is covered over by months worth of earthen debris. Fallen leaves obscured grass patches emitting a wonderful fresh sense that contrasted so vividly against the scenery. Or, perhaps these factors existed as fractions of the same dismal whole; circular and one entity.

Minyul wiggles in his uncle's arms so Taekwoon responds to the silent plea. He lowers the child to the ground and avoids reading the glistening inscription on the cement plaque. The reminder was unnecessary for him. He knew the dates, the words, all of it by heart at this point. Besides, his mother would read it aloud in a second, like she always did. They were lucky the clouds overhead had not begun their weeping. 

“In honour of a beautiful soul who will reside in our hearts forever…” his mother launches in her hushed tone and Taekwoon’s eyes close as he envisions the face that left him so long ago. There were some fuzzy details. That was terrible. What sort of brother would he be if he couldn’t remember what she looked like? He tries to focus in on the blurriness in her features, just around her mouth and the sides of her face. Were her cheekbones high like his, or just a bit lower from their father? Was he missing a mole or spattering of freckles in his recollection? It would be easy to pull up a picture, but it was going to continue to itch at him.

“-and taken from life too soon. May she continue to be loved.” And if his mother’s voice cracks just before she finishes, the rest of them don’t say a word. Traditionally, they would all be allotted time to speak to her one on one. This was customary. His parents go first as an inseparable unit. At first, Taekwoon had been afraid that the loss would break them apart. He’d been alleviated of his worries when it hadn’t.

Minyul and him wander around and look at some of the names of the deceased. It soon became a task to find the oldest grave in the lot. Undoubtedly it would be found in one of the larger, covered, tomb-like resting places farthest from the entrance gate. Oh well, so long as they were staying to the running paths and not treading over any dead things, it’s probable that they were doing no harm. Distantly, Taekwoon sees his sister and her fiance also roaming about, hand-in-hand. There’s a pang in his chest. He afterwards determines it to be heartache. 

Later- around ten minutes or so- Taekwoon watches as the silhouettes of his mother and father move slowly away towards where they had first come. It was the indication for the next person to pay their respects. The raven-haired man turns to look for his sister. She’s not within eyesight, so he takes it upon himself to call for Minyul and lead him over. 

His uncle drops down to a squatting position and holds onto the boy by his waist even while said child’s eyes bore down at the earth beneath his feet.   
“Is there anything you’d like to say to your mom?” Taekwoon asks him. Minyul nods.   
“Do you want me to stay?” He begins again. Minyul affirms with another tilt of his head.   
“Alright. What grade are you in now?” And that gets the child going. Soon he’s telling his mother all about his school and the friends he had there. He says that he got into trouble because his hangul characters were too messy, which Taekwoon hadn’t heard about, but he was going to be having some words with a teacher if this turned out to be nitpicking. He begins a tangent about how his school uniform for the next year is going to be way to itchy and Taekwoon sucks at his cheeks to keep from laughing aloud. 

Soon, Minyul is out of breath and he glances over his shoulder at the caretaker who hadn’t moved from his position for the duration of the boy’s ranting.  
“OK. I think I’m done now.”  
“You think?”  
“Mhm.” Minyul smiles at him. Taekwoon can feel his own stare soften at the sight.   
“Alright. We can go back to the car now,” he tells the child.   
“Are you coming back?” Why was Minyul asking that? 

“Um, I can…” he responds to his nephew’s question while straightening up to his feet.  
“Good. She wants you to talk to her, too.” Minyul states in so decisive a tone that Taekwoon is left with a gaping mouth and no words. 

“I… Yes, alright, I’ll come back once you’re with Grandma and Grandpa. Yeah?” He soothes the child and Minyul is appeased. He grips onto Taekwoon’s hand when it’s offered to him anyhow, following closely while they take the steadily trodden path back to the gate. Taekwoon’s parents are outside of their vehicle and speaking in hushed voices, but they pause when they catch sight of the pair. 

“That was quick,” his mother remarks with her own delicate upturn of lip. “Is your sister having her turn?”   
“I’m not sure. They we-”  
“Uncle Ta still has to talk to mom,” Minyul insists and Taekwoon startles. It was unlike him to be so upfront with people he spent so little time with. Then again, this was family. 

“Oh?” This time it’s Taekwoon’s father who reciprocates and fixes his son with a searing stare. “He should talk to her, then. Do you want to sit inside with us, Minyul? It’ll be warmer than out here,” he persists and Minyul releases his uncle’s hand to go willingly under the care of his grandparents. Taekwoon is left wondering what sort of conspiracy theory he was currently under with the look he was being given. They were all eyeing him the same- in a way that send goosebumps extending across the flesh of his arms. 

“I’ll wait until they get here,” the football player says slowly. Eerily, the figures nod in unison before piling into the car that would take them home. This leaves Taekwoon stranded in a parking lot that was growing steadily cooler as what looked like thunderclouds rolled in from on the horizon. He fights back the tremble that came with being cold and grabs at the collar of his jacket to pull it up over the back of his neck. What was with this sudden change? 

The couple eventually find their way to the car. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes they’d spent with her. Taekwoon wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, but he gets the smile and nod from his sister when he’s close enough to see them properly, and that’s his sign to go. He pushes away from the section of fence he’s been leaning against. Waiting by the car felt wrong, and he was getting creeped out. Faintly, if he strained, there were whispers in the wind of his name- or maybe he was finally going insane.

(Why hadn’t Minyul mentioned Jaehwan?)

His feet don’t bear down against the trail the same this time when he heads down it. His steps are deliberate and precise; he avoids kicking up leaves. The gusts are starting to pick up now to the point that they whip through his hair in furious intervals. Something electric in the air has him even further on edge. Taekwoon is of the mindset that there’s something wrong, but that could just be portentous of an oncoming storm. 

Soon enough, he’s at the foot of the grave again. They were lucky this time around. The cemetery remained empty the entire time of their visit. No doubt due to the change in weather. A small, empty voice at the back of his mind speaks in the voice of one of the newscasters on the local channel he usually watched in the morning warning of a cold front approaching from the south of them. He braced himself.

“Hey,” he starts because he’s been standing there silent for minutes. Nothing greets him back. The noise around him changes pitch- higher, higher- with the coming of the rain. It creeps in closer and closer he can feel it. Taekwoon’s knees start to hurt; early onset arthritis symptoms that plagued him since he started playing professionally but foreshadowed the severity that was to come. 

“Minyul’s in school. He told you that. He’s learning a lot. He’s a smart kid.” Taekwoon is talking like he’s standing in front of a crowd at a recital. He remembers his lines. 

“We miss you. We l… love you. I love you,” he tells her. There’s still no response. He reasons that there shouldn’t be. The dead should remain dead. Surely, horrifying things came when they didn’t. His hands ball into fist at his sides, untrimmed nails digging sharply into the the tender flesh that was the inside of his palms. 

“Am I doing OK?” Taekwoon asks her. “Am I? What would you do? You’d be better,” he answers himself. “You were always better with kids than I was. Even the other ones in the neighbourhood when we wanted to play. When I could barely talk to them, y-you helped me out, remember?” 

When his knees start to give out, he doesn’t help himself. He allows for the slow slide onto the earth. He clasps his hands together in front of him. A doleful picture he was. Lost. 

“I wish you were here, I really, really do,” Taekwoon persists, because every word is a tonne off. The satisfaction of getting it out was worth it. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he admits. “I’m just bullshitting my way through. Am I happy? I dunno. Would you be proud of me?” Taekwoon intakes a shuddering breath. 

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I’m doing anything right. I just... I just hope you’re proud of me,” he murmurs to the sopping soil. The grass stares piteously back at him, and he tricks himself into believing that the warm drops of liquid falling onto it are from the rain. “I hope I’m making you proud. Shit,” Taekwoon curses, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his arm. The synthetic material of his jacket scratches as his skin. His bangs were starting to stick to his forehead from the light sprinkle showering him and he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. His joints were stiffening and the muscles in his thighs were beginning to ache from the crouching position he was in, but the thought of leaving was painful. There were things he wanted to tell her. There were things he wanted to show her. And he couldn’t. But maybe- just maybe- if he was there long enough and thought about it hard enough, she would know. That was a ludicrous idea formed in the mind of a frenzied man, but it was an idea he was clinging to.

Taekwoon kept clinging to it until the footsteps became audible. His oldest sister undoubtedly come to fetch him back and haul him into the realm of the living once again. The hand rests on his shoulder, not pushing him or clutching at him, but something steady. He could grab onto it if he fell too far. It was hard to lift his head.

“How long?” Comes the croaking voice because that is what he’s become now.  
“About fifteen minutes. That’s a decent amount of time.” Sure, but this only happened a couple of times a year. He could stay with her a little longer. 

“She’ll be here next time, too, Taek. And I’m here. Mom, Dad, we’re all here if you ever need us,” his sister tells him. He knows that. It’s still hard.

“I miss her,” he admits and the whisper is a blanched one. He misses her with such fervence that he can hardly recall not missing her. He could hardly recall not feeling cheated by the universe. And perhaps that was what was bothering him so thoroughly. 

“I do, too.” The body at his side stoops down to his level. In the sincerest form of affection that Taekwoon understands, his sister smooths the wet strands of hair away from his head so that he could finally see. Only then does he raise his gaze to her. In her face is the same misery that eats at him, but masked so much more effectively. He could only see it because he felt it too.

“Come on. Let’s go home. There’s live people who need us more.” It’s a difficult truth. On a sunny day, he would venture back here and he would tell the woman in the grave everything he thought she needed to know. For now, he would stand and stretch out the limbs that were robotic in their movements until he felt human again. His sister keeps a hold of his hand when they leave. Taekwoon needs it. The pools of rainwater are forming and spreading rapidly over the pavement; the chill sits in over fevered skin. He’s so warm, it’s too warm. Is it a tropical storm they were calling for on that eternity ago of a news show?

He wipes at his eyes and prays that the red rims will be faded before he sees Minyul again. Was he aware that crying was far from weakness? Yes. Did that mean he wanted Minyul to see it? No. 

There’s no talk of it when his sister releases him to their parents again. The car is running and all seems to be going on exactly the same. They could do with a little less melancholy for the rest of their stay.

Taekwoon takes a breath deeper than he ever has before and he feels so saturated with life he may have hallucinated the entire episode. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

Two more weeks. He’s still not anywhere near and Taekwoon is beginning to feel like the ordeal may have been a fever dream. Jinsoo avoids the topic altogether, he hadn't asked about the missing fae since their luncheon. Taekwoon is back to practicing six days a week and his coach hardly gives him a hostile glance. It's as though they've willingly blinded themselves; to Taekwoon’s suffering or lifestyle was the question. It made his life infinitely easier. 

A month. The bed is made every morning. The Korean man begins to ponder why he ever stopped doing that. A flicker of memory- Jaehwan sometimes slept in later when he had work in the afternoon or if he had the day off. 

(Jaehwan?)

A month and a half.   
Minyul is out more often at his friends’ houses or with a tutor. Somehow, he’d gotten behind on his mathematics and hangul. How had that happened? 

The apartment feels empty. A mundane emptiness. Taekwoon is folding laundry when he finds a black dress shirt he’s certain is not his. It smells like his brand of detergent, and it was possible it had shrunk in the wash considering the tightness in the armpits and waist when he tries the top on, just to check. He shrugs it off and sets it aside. Maybe he could find a use for it someday. 

Two months. He looks at the calendar in his phone. It has been two months since he’d been let off for his injury. They were by no means a fit enough team to compete for the World Cup, but semis were coming up sooner than he wanted to think about and their pools would be released the following days. If tabloids could cease with their ‘concerned’ dribble over him he’d be in a far superior mood. As it was, they continued to dog and annoy him.

“Why don’t you come out with us tomorrow?” Jinsoo asks him pre-practice on Friday night when they’re rolling on their long socks over their shin and knee pads. “Get someone to watch the kid and we can have some fun,” he urges. “Maybe even meet someone, who knows?”

That… doesn’t settle well with Taekwoon. There’s something foggy- a misty memory- an irksome feeling that prevents him from agreeing. He feels like he should be at home, but for what, he’s unsure of. The sense of foreboding stalks him through the rest of the night. He wakes up disconcerted, with a frown semi-permanently creased between his brows. 

Taekwoon needs to stretch. He’s antsy. His legs want to move and ease themselves of the soreness of the previous activity, so that’s what he does. In truth, Minyul was going to (Yugyeom’s? Dohyun’s?) for a sleepover when the afternoon hit, and when Taekwoon is buckling back into his seat after dropping his nephew off, he’s struck with deja vu so powerful it becomes nauseating. He needs to take a moment and rests his forehead against the rubber covering of the car’s wheel to put an end to the turning in his gut. 

It’s a fight, but he gets through it and pulls himself together enough to shift his car back into drive and get home. He just needs to be sitting down somewhere he knows until this goes away. But, then his head starts to pound.

When he’s in the elevator, watching as the numbers tick tick up to his floor, the pain becomes excruciating. Maybe he yells aloud with how swift and forceful it is. His knees nearly buckle- would have if Taekwoon hadn’t thrown himself against the wall of the elevator and gripped onto the safety rail for dear life. 

The glowing digits increase. Higher, higher, they miss his floor. The elevator doesn’t stop where it’s supposed to, but he doesn’t notice. The numbers are a blur. Taekwoon blindly trusts. 

The doors open to the top floor. (Not a penthouse, but there were only a few large suites up here). Taekwoon stumbles out while clutching at his hair, but the hallways aren’t the ones he knows, and he’s disoriented. Panicked, he looks for a stairwell. He just needs to go down. If he can go down, he’ll be home.

Taekwoon does find the stairs, but they lead up, not where he needs to be. But, he wants to breathe. He needs an open window, something, anything to alleviate the pain in his brain, so he goes up. 

Emerging onto the roof, he gulps in the cool air, a desperate man running on a hopeless need. His diaphragm contracts to the point he can feel his lungs expanding and for a euphoric moment Taekwoon is lulled into placidity. 

(The moment is over.)

Gnawing at his unconscious is a merciless notion. 

He’s forgetting something. He’s forgetting something.   
It’s very important what is he forgetting?  
Taekwoon clutches at the sides of his head trying to breathe, doubling over, heaving breaths.  
“No. No no no no,” he repeats and he can’t stop. 

It’s spring rain, it’s cookie crumbs left on a plate, it’s texts in all caps, it’s lost shorts, it’s an end to the aching pit in his heart-  
What is he forgetting?  
Who is he forgetting?  
Why can’t he remember? 

The tears are streaming down his face now because he can’t blink or the fragments of memory will drift away with the current of his dismay. 

It’s flower petals peeling off of a piece of paper, it’s being disparaged by his coach, it’s coming home to something more than he could have ever hoped for.

It’s so important and he can feel it at his core as he stumbles aimlessly, grabbing at his chest because it feels very suddenly that there is a massive, gaping void there.   
It hurts.  
It hurts so badly. 

Taekwoon’s breath is completely knocked out of him when he stumbles too close and too fast to the railing of the roof. It wasn’t high enough. He’s suddenly suspended in the air-

And then he’s falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not sorry. suffer. check out @changbaegi's art and @biasedwriting's fics on tumblr.


	14. Acuminate

The crash never comes. Bone-jarring collision with the cement below should have been an inevitable outcome, but it never comes. Taekwoon’s curiosity pries his eyes open from their previous tight closure sourced from dread. 

Levitation is a cocktail churned of delusions and stirred in the mind of a madman, but that's what he was doing. Taekwoon, in all of his six foot something length -and he wasn't very light- was hovering some hundreds of feet above the street. He could see the marching ants of civilians weaving their way through the maze of city from up here, and it would be fascinating were it not for the fact that he should actually be dead and not accomplishing a feat dreamed of by men. 

He hangs there, unable to do anything else. There's an awful fear that if he so much as twitches all that will be left of him was a smear on the sidewalk. Or the road. Or wherever he landed. His headache is gone, though. 

It's been over two months. Taekwoon takes these moments to think because that's what one did when left in a dire situation with no foreseeable outcome. He thinks about the school trip he and Minyul had gone to so long ago, because that's what kept popping into his head. It was significant, but why? 

The man is afraid to breathe, but he can't hold it in any longer. He inhales slowly through his nose, as slowly as he can tolerate, until he feels like he may not suffocate. There's no change to his status. Why wasn't anyone looking up? Someone should notice if there was a human sprawled in the air. 

He continues to go unseen. Taekwoon may as well be invisible. 

The kid he pulled away from the raging waters of the sea; that was important, too. It felt like a pinnacle moment. It needed to happen. But why? To save a life was the obvious answer, but it didn't feel like the right one. 

Taekwoon’s heart rate begins to pick up. Agitation? 

The wide expanse of district goes on endlessly underneath him. How did he get to face downward? He was certain he fell backwards from the railing. Did he twist in an attempt to brace himself? Like that would've done any good if he had fallen.

Taekwoon worries at his bottom lip. It was so chapped that the action caused it to split. Ouch. 

And then he's moving again.  
Or floating?  
The athlete is going down, but it's as if he's being held up be some huge transparent force too large for the edges of it to be visible with his weak human pupils. 

The force sets him down on a balcony a few storeys later. In a rush, the muted noises of the earth come screaming at him from all sides and Taekwoon topples to the floor of the cement block extending away from the building, keeping him from utter destruction. Slapping his hands over his ears he tries to deafen the sounds. They're too loud. 

“Stop, stop it…” is he speaking aloud? Can they hear him? 

The cacophony isn't coming from outside. With a jolt, Taekwoon realizes it's him. There are voices screeching at him inside his head. Remember me! he thinks they say, but they keep talking over each other like a garbled, jumbled mess of an orchestra playing the wrong instruments.

“Who? Who?!” Taekwoon howls at nothing in particular. The owner of this suite must not be home. 

“Who? Am I forgetting?” They're important. If he can only remember, it'll all click together. It has to. He was missing the vital piece to this puzzle.

It's been over two months.  
Since what?

_Since he left._

Taekwoon shudders. 

_Since he left you._

No, it was a necessity. He had to. 

_Now he's gone._

“Stop it…”

_Maybe for good._

“Don't!”

_Why would he come back?_

“I said knock it off!” 

There's no one there. He's alone. Of course he is. 

Is this what it felt like to finally break? Nothing felt real. Taekwoon rises to sit up and raises his hands in front of him. They looked real. When he clenched and unclenched his fists, he could feel it. Locks of black tresses are obscuring some of his vision, so that must be real too. 

What was happening to him?  
Overwhelmed and upset, Taekwoon thinks that he might just start to cry. He was doing a lot of that lately. 

As it is, his knees find their way pressed against his chest so he can bury his face in the luxury that was a fetal position. Exhaustion was a bitch. 

His rational mind knows it isn't exhaustion causing this. Taekwoon thinks that the likelihood of a paranoia causing him to see things was certainly an option. Stress could make illusions, he believes. Apparitions of his own invention were dodging him at every opportunity to counter them. They delved somewhere far below his conscious into a void of past encounters he was unable to retrieve. It was an easier notion to take as truth than him having levitated and avoided Death in this exploit. 

In the next instant, Taekwoon becomes aware that he is not alone on the balcony. No, some foreign creature was joining him. He could sense it even if he was unable to see from his position. 

The creature -because Taekwoon is sure that it’s not human because of the lack of sound in its movements- is circling around him, as if observing its prey. Would Taekwoon bother to fight back at this point if it came to physical altercation?

“I’d say you’re pathetic, but you’re must stronger than I anticipated,” sounded the Unknown, and Taekwoon flinches away from it. What did it want from him? Should he care? 

Was he going to bother voicing those thoughts? He wanted to curl up and sleep. For at least a couple of months if he could get away with it. A short coma sounded nice right about now. 

“I did not know you _giall_ were so dramatic as this,” the stranger remarks. So it could read his mind now, too, huh? 

“No. You have been speaking to me.”  
“Oh.” So maybe the human had. Taekwoon, with precise movements, gradually extracts himself from the position so that he can see the figure currently standing before him. 

Drenched in cloths of all sorts of materials, the intruder could be a sort of nine-tailed fox. Tales of the gumiho were common in old literature, and even Taekwoon (in no scholarly pride) could recall the dangers that the fantasy creature brought with it. They were meant to be beautiful, cunning and slick to seduce and manipulate humans so that they could feast on the lesser beings. Taekwoon was mildly interested; he could not see the face of this beast as it was obscured by a hood and mask of the same mismatched material as the rest of the garb it adorned. By all standards, it must be beautiful. To Taekwoon, it was lacking lustre. The same as everything else had been for the last two months and a bit. Or had that always been the case for him? To never see the beauty in anything properly? He could learn to, if he had the right mentor. 

From the tilt of its head, Taekwoon would not be incorrect in assuming the creature to be intrigued. It was watching him, though he couldn’t see the fixated gaze. The sensation of ardent eyes raking over his trembling form made him feel exposed. Nude. He starts to glare daggers at the stranger in retaliation for the emotions it was inflicting on him. 

Unexpectedly, the outsider laughs at him. Taekwoon can’t tell if it’s a male or a female. In between? Did it matter? It was enjoying his pain.

“You are almost exactly what I foresaw you to be. The way you were described… I knew that you were to be the person to seek out. I do apologize for having done this to you,” it expresses to him. So this was the cause for his disorientation? This had to be a cruel joke. The figure steps closer to him, and now Taekwoon can see that they are barefoot. White lines like veins stretch across the flesh bared to him. They could be scars were it not for the translucent quality to them. 

“Why would you do this to me?” The human managed to croak out. Dryness in his throat was making it hard to speak. 

“I needed to know you would not become a victim. There are too many trials to be unsure. I am sorry,” the stranger murmurs to him. The voice is so melodic and soothing. It reminds him even more of Jaehwan. 

“What do you want from me?” And if he's hostile, can he really be blamed for it?

“I need your help,” They bluntly state. The indigo-sheeted hood blocks their face from Taekwoon. He now thinks it may be a woman with a low voice, or perhaps an elderly person. Their dexterous movements deter him from that a bit. 

“Tch. If you can't deal with your problem what makes you think I can?” He was useless. Just a human guy with no magic to help him or skills that were actually good for something. 

The stranger sighs.  
“You're the only one who can claim him,” They disclose without much interest.  
Taekwoon's head snaps up. He's suddenly paying attention.

“You mean…” he trails off. The churning in his guts returns.

“ _Kalan_ , yes. Or, I guess to you he’s-”  
“Jaehwan.” It's the first, clear word Taekwoon’s been able to say.

The hooded figure nods. “Correct. It seems I have chosen the right time to fetch you. It was difficult; you are never separated from your kin.” 

“You've been spying on me?”  
“Checking in periodically. The _giall_ realm is different and exciting. There are other things to see. But!” The stranger stops Taekwoon before he can speak, because he’s opening his mouth to. “There was no opportunity to fetch you earlier. Do not be angered.” 

Who was this thing to tell him how he should feel? 

The silence descends and hangs between them as a tension. Taekwoon did not enjoy being tested. He hates it most if it’s for a necessary cause.

“Well? Will you accompany me?” The thing asks of him. 

“No.”

“You are a stubborn fool.” That’s what Taekwoon thinks he hears from the stranger in the robes. Or was it a coat? It was hanging too loosely to be that. A cloak? How medieval. Now that he was paying more attention, the human could see the finer details of the clothing piece. Where stitches should be to keep the fabric (because that’s what it would have to be) together are instead thin, braided threads of multiple colours that gleamed differently with every angle the light hit them from. They could be reflective, but there was a lack of the harsh gleam that came with metallics or glass. That was perplexing. His mind or his eyes was confused by them. Taekwoon decided not to try to make sense of it. 

“I’m not leaving my nephew,” Taekwoon states, rising from his resting stance to his feet. He felt better now, because he could tell that he was larger in stature than the stranger. It was likely he was physically stronger, too. He silently thanks his genetics for giving him an intimidating frame. 

“It will be quickly over. A few hours at most,” the creature attempts to persuade. It remains still, that stupid hood still keeping its face from Taekwoon’s stare. The human’s eyes were narrowed and zeroing in on where he believed the thing’s irises should be. 

“No!” Taekwoon declares; he won’t be lulled so easily. Yes, this thing has proved its otherworldliness, but that was no proof that it was his ally. Taekwoon turns on his heel, indignant, nostrils flaring and eyes crazed. “Tell me exactly. None of this bullshit! None of the tiptoeing around! What do you need from me? Why? Why can’t someone else do it? He’ll just suffer if he comes back anyway!” His voice will soon be lost if he keeps up the yelling at his volume. 

“He was… he was fading away. He was nothing. Nothing like he should be. I won’t do that to him again,” Taekwoon finishes, and it convinces himself that Jaehwan -in all of his lovable imperfections- was better off in an existence devoid of him. He was suffering with the humans. What were the odds he was worse off in a realm he could thrive in? 

The creature sighs (sighs!) at him. The whisper of breath makes Taekwoon want to scream in his infuriated state. A fiery rage was brimming inside him with every second the creature stayed in front of him, provoking him. All it would take was the strike of flint to set the fire ablaze. 

“Why can’t you see? Will you not even try to understand?” The voice is only a mumble, as if the stranger was speaking to itself, not to him. Taekwoon’s face was growing warmer as the blood rushed to his head in intervals. 

“If I was able to do this without your aide, I would. As it is, I have no right to Jaehwan like you do. Even in my position.”

What?  
“They will respect your agreement more-so than I, so ple-”  
“No.”

“Why not?” Ah, so Taekwoon has successfully discouraged the creature. Its tone was no longer confident and it had its hands extended out and towards him, pleading. Angular, cracking nails become visible, though the fingers themselves are covered with the same winding markings as on the bare feet of the creature. Didn’t Jaehwan have something like that? It’s fuzzy. 

“I said what I said,” the human asserts. “I have someone here I need to protect, too. You’ve barely told me anything,” that could change his mind. It was easy to dismiss this stranger. He could go back to his life of contentment and routine if he so chose to. It would haunt him, but he would survive with that ‘what-if’. 

The hissing noise makes him jump. The cosmos pause around them. Taekwoon is very suddenly trapped in a moment where sound is void. When he tries to run, his legs move as if stuck in thick molasses. He’s only blinked, but the darkness behind the lids of his eyes is eternal. 

“Do not,” the voice booms of out nowhere, jarring Taekwoon to his very core with its bass,” test me any longer, _giall_. Time is wasting away while you sit here in your impudence.”  
That wasn’t very nice. He just asked for clarification.

Taekwoon’s throat aches with the force of his next breath in, but it comes too fast with the light and he chokes on it. He coughs it out, crouching over. The force of it almost sends him gagging; nearly does. 

A being creating arduous rage soars before him. Their feet hover above the growns as wisps of snaking hair break free of the confines of the hood. They are long and silvery and matted with dirt and grime just as Their face is. Streaks of what appears to be soil cling to the flesh of Their cheeks, sullen and deadend. Alabaster skin with tinge of greying hue is cause for concern; no living creature should look like this. 

Terror submerges him in its clamping grip. He was thinking that maybe he should have just listened to It. Taekwoon begins to doubt he’s coming out of this unscathed. 

But then It drops. It crumbles to the ground in a heap of limbs and hair, sending gooseflesh over Taekwoon’s skin. It looks like a discarded pile of unwanted clothes more than a person.

“H-hey…” he calls softly to it after a moment of complete stillness. No response.  
“Hey!” Louder this time. Urgent. In morbid curiousity, the human steps closer. Closer. Nothing. Taekwoon has the urge to touch it.  
He pushes the hair away from Its face so that he can see if it truly is unconscious. What he sees makes him yelp and stumble backward in shock. 

Its eyes are open and glazed, staring out into nothing, clouded in a deep fog. He can see it- stars swirling where Its irises should be, the rest of the optic cavity shrouded in a dark mass that was tugging away from Its face. Escaping? 

His stomach becomes queasy very quickly. Taekwoon shuffles back and away with all the grace he can muster, kicking away at the ground ahead of him to put some distance between him and the Thing. 

He’s close enough that he could climb down the fire escape if he so wished. It’s here, he can see it now, just in reach if he were to rise up and grasp onto it to fling himself over the balcony and set afoot the contraption that would extend below- to safety and security. 

Something doesn’t sit right with him. He’s just been through a harrowing experience, and this creature surely meant to bring him harm, so what was this hesitation? Did he truly feel bad? Wrenching himself away from the railing, he yells aloud, because what is he thinking? There’s one last look at the immobile beast before he surrenders himself to fate and braces for the unknown. 

Practice has made him a powerful, muscular creature. It feels like nothing slung around his shoulders, but Taekwoon avoids looking it in the face. It is too eerie, too foreign. Leaving it would be wrong. Curse his sisters for bringing him up soft. 

He’s barely able to heave himself over the railing and keep his balance on the thin metal poles of the ladder without the monster sliding from its position. Every step threatens to dislodge them and pitch the two to their deaths below. At the very least, it would be fast; Taekwoon preferred not to die today, even though the possibility becomes more probable with every slide of his foot.

They end up not dying, which is a win in his books. His shoulders are aching though, and they were likely going to hurt for a while. The unconscious creature was heavier than it looked- contrast to the fae he was so used to. 

Lack of people was starting to get to him. Taekwoon did not meet another human being throughout his ordeal. Not when he finally reached the alcove that would bring him to a safe landing site beside the apartment building ten storeys below, not when he placed the stranger gently against the stable concrete of the building’s wall to slam his fist against the sliding glass screen door to call for help. There was no one coming out of their homes to sate their curiousity about the commotion he was causing. It was as though the apartment complex was empty. But, he could hear them. On all the floors there was muffled talking and the buzz of television frequencies. Radio was blasting, music was blaring, but they were not coming to his rescue. 

Taekwoon was getting real tired of this weird shit. Sleep was the only thing on his mind by this point in time. 

Yeah, he could use a nap.  
After a further five minutes of failed attempts to garner the assistance of literally any other person, his back slams against the same wall the stranger was propped up against. His face is raised to the sky, and Taekwoon has one glimpse of steadily greying cloud cover before the lids of his eyes close and he slumps, sliding down the wall until he’s in the same position as the alien creature.

Time passes as he slips in and out of trance. There are flashes where he wakes up dazed, recalling another aspect of the forgotten time with Jaehwan. It happens in increments, just like he’d faded away. Taekwoon resents himself. 

How could he betray Jaehwan like that? The fae was a focal point, a bright, animated character that made days that much more bearable. That much less lonely. So much more fulfilling. 

Taekwoon had allowed that to slip away.  
He jolts awake to discover that nightlife has reached its peak. The chilled air cools his sweat stained skin before it freezes him. He shivers. From the other side of the balcony railing, groups of coworkers are stumbling about in search of the next open bar. Taekwoon has no need to listen intently to know that. 

From his peripherals, the human can tell that the beast has not stirred. How long have they been like this?

The entirety of his body protests as he attempts to stand. His back especially is suffering the effects of his burden to the point that Taekwoon must stoop to achieve any peace from the pain of overextension. 

The apartment to which the balcony belonged to remains dark. When Taekwoon squints, he can make out the outline of furniture inside of it, but that’s all. No light source to indicate the presence of a being from the living world. 

He tugs at the knob to the sliding door in a last-ditch attempt to gain salvation-  
And it slides open.  
Taekwoon is frozen in astonishment, but that moment is broken easily. He gathers the robed figure by its underarms and drags it into the warmth of the suite before slamming the door behind them. 

Nothing stirs. They have not disturbed anything alive, but a silent force lingers hauntingly in the uncertainty around him. He is afraid to wade against the force to the front door, so he allows the tension to hold him in place.

Taekwoon, akin to the crumpled lump of breathing mass beside him, is a jumble. Emotions and thoughts are a hammering current that refuse to cease their violent tide. They wrack at his brain and pick him apart- slowly, surely, they hope to tear him to pieces. 

Awful, they call him. But not malicious, he tries to circumvent. The ideas are not lenient.  
Terrible. A pathetic excuse for a… lover?  
Is that what he was calling himself now?  
He misses Jaehwan.  
The figure stirs before bolting upright; a taut arrow in a bowstring released just as it were about to crack. 

Taekwoon hardly gets a word in as the stranger rushes past him, into the cover of dimness. The human can only see the outline of its shape against the blackness if he refrains from looking directly at it. 

“What have you done?” The small, gravelly voice beckons him. “What have you done?”

“Are you fucking with me right now?” Taekwoon mutters to himself. This was craziness. Orbs of white glisten in the shadow. The scleras of the creature?

“Where are we?”  
“Do you really think you have the right to play twenty questions with me?” The human interjects. Standing causes his knees to crack. 

“Where are we?” The being persists.  
“I dunno. An apartment. We’re inside,” Taekwoon sneers. He thinks the thing grumbles, but that could have been his stomach. Hours have passed. He’s famished.  
The stillness of the thing prickles at Taekwoon’s skin. Nothing should be able to freeze up like that. What is it doing?

 

“I… am sorry. This place has an impact on our kind.”  
What the hell is it talking about?  
“Explain.” Taekwoon demands. He was the reticent one here. He’d earned that by this point with all the threats to his life. 

It pauses.  
“Somewhere more private.”  
“We’re alone. How much more private does it need to be?”  
“Where you live. I will tell you there,” it concedes, but Taekwoon is struck with the urgency in its tone. 

“Fine. We have to go down,” he sighs. By paying close attention, he can move about the room without bumping into couches or lamps until he reaches the wall furthest to him. He feels around blindly with his palms, praying to reach the doorknob. It eventually happens, and he can taste freedom. It is musty in this suite. He hates it. The taste of mothballs is in the back of his throat.

The light of the hallway gives their skin an ill tinge. No doubt it emphasized the dark bags under his waterlines when he walked. Taekwoon hardly bothered to close the door behind them.

Fortune was surely with them, as the hallway was devoid of people when they exited the suite. Then again, would anyone be able to see them? He hasn’t forgotten the strange lack of response to his need for aid. Then again, maybe his building was just full of assholes. 

There’s no point in ensuring the thing was following him. Taekwoon felt breath at the back of his neck the closer they came to the elevator doors. Man, that was annoying. 

“Could you not be so close to me?” He asks of the creature. Silence is the reply he receives. Nice. Very helpful. 

His feet drag the rest of the way to his door when the elevator opens again. Taekwoon fumbles for the keys on his person, ultimately locating them in his back pocket. It was a miracle they were still there. He decides he likes miracles.

Screeching, beeping noises sound as his alarm goes off, causing him to groan aloud in dismay as he tries to remember the password to end the torment. He does just in the last ten seconds before the system automatically dialed the security office. The habit of putting his alarm back on had come back in the previous few weeks. 

“Well?” Taekwoon insists once he has a piece of chicken in one hand and a plastic cup of water in the other.  
The thing is flitting around his living room, hovering a few inches above the carpet and Taekwoon wasn’t perturbed. He’d probably be more confused if it wasn’t acting completely out of place. 

“Yes,” it drawls, pausing in its tirade of the room. Taekwoon believes it might be looking at him. It has that cloak covering it again, so he can’t be sure; the hood swallows up all of the light in the home, making it still impossible to see any semblance of facial structure. 

“What are you?” He asks.  
“Asparas.” Oh, so it was willing to talk now.  
“Like Jaehwan?”  
“No. I am _atua_ sect. A guide.”  
“Uh huh. What do you want?”  
“I am here to grant safe passage to the _giall_ with the claim to _Diamae Kalan_.”  
This was so much worse than when Jaehwan first arrived. Taekwoon munches down on the chicken, chewing thoughtfully. Was the thing… getting tired? It was beginning to hunch over, and the width of distance between the ground and its feet was getting steadily tighter. 

“Was all that other stuff really necessary?” Taekwoon prompts. They could have done this in a civilized manner when the sun was still out. 

It hesitates.  
“Needed to secure _giall’s_ intentions.”  
“I don’t know what that means,” he admits.  
“ _Lalled'allearain_ prefer it that way.”  
“Please, for the love of god, just make sense for two seconds,” he rambles aloud with eyes trained on the shrouded hood. 

“Must be… certain. Cannot afford a mistake,” it wavers. Taekwoon makes no move to stop the thing as it sinks lower. It should really just take a seat on the couch or something. 

“The test was successful. You are the _giall_. You have the proper intent. Yet… you refuse to act on your desires?” The statement posed at a question, directed to him. “Your memories were continuously contorted, but you remained steadfast, but you will not come?”

Wait a second.

“Did you… Were you causing that?” All that _bullshit?_  
“The fragmentation of your memories served as a trial to determine your fitness. You passed the trial. I did not mean any harm. I did as deemed fit.”

All Taekwoon sees is red for that following moment, and the plastic cup in his hand squeals in defiance while he slowly crushes it.  
“You are angry.”  
“No.”  
“There is no use in lying. I am a truth seeker. Your mind is too weak to me.”  
“Then you know I’m not just angry.”  
“Ah, yes,” the Thing nods and Taekwoon imagines the cup currently being crushed is the intruder’s throat in a vivid blaze of emotion. It recoils.  
“I do apologize. You are the only one who does remember him. Not another soul has managed to conjure him as anything more than a phantom.”  
“Lucky me.”  
“You do not know what you are capable of. Your emotions are true, strong!”  
“You just called me weak minded.”  
“The heart and the head are not the same,” it explains to him. But then, faintly, “we are running out of time.”

“Time for what?”  
“This world. I cannot stay for much longer. It is too tiring. Our home calls to us, makes us sick with longing. _Kalan_ had no wish to return, but it affected him the same because he was summoned from the other side.”  
“By who?”  
“ _Allearain_. For judgement.”  
Taekwoon blanches. An eternity ago, Jaehwan spoke of the trouble he got himself into. He’d paid the price for that already! The scars… Taekwoon recalled those with harrowing accuracy. 

“You must come with me,” the asparas is beseeching. It is now standing, keeping itself upright with pure focus. “They will listen to you.”  
“Why? I’m just a human. They sent him in the first place.”  
“Exactly. You have the contract with the _Diamae_. It is sacred.”  
“Then how could they take him back in the first place?” Taekwoon snaps. He sets the disjointed cup on a side table, glaring at the stranger.  
It fidgets.  
“He has to agree to cross again. So long as he was here, he had your energy to give him will. But, _lalled'allearain_ have leverage if there is a chance of difficulty.”  
And Jaehwan could sure be difficult when he wanted to be.

The human flops into his open armchair. The familiarity was comforting. 

“How much time is left before you have to leave?” He tries. Taekwoon needs to shut his eyes. He needs to rationalize. 

“Twenty-seven hours at most if I rest.”  
That was barely any time at all.  
“What did you mean by time isn’t the same there and it is here?” Taekwoon inquires instead.

“I gave to you a demonstration earlier. Time was still in the bubbled haven. It was a small crossing, only enough that I can conjure without destroying my own self,” the being clarifies. “A day here may be what you call a week or so in the place we must go.”

“How long would this expedition take? Approximately.” Was he seriously contemplating?  
“Two or three days at my home so long as you are capable and the council is of the right temperament.”  
“So… about eight hours here?” Taekwoon was not good at math, but he could get estimates fairly well. 

“If that it how you understand it.”  
“Fuck.”  
“Pardon?” Good. It was affronted. 

“What if it doesn’t work? What if I can’t come back? I have a life here, too,” he rationalizes. The creature takes in a long breath. 

Taekwoon opens his gaze to the world again.  
The thing is pulling back its hood.  
He’d seen the matted locks and the bizarre oculus of the _atua_ , but now there was detail. The thing’s optic cavities weren’t otherworldly so much as they were odd- violet in hue. Silver and gold flecks mottle the colour, but the shape is distinctly human, slanted. Was that for amenity? 

It looks female. Then again, Taekwoon reminded himself not to jump to conclusions. It has a pretty and angular face. Rounded forehead, supple pink lips, sharp nose with a wide bridge. It was pleasing to look at from a fully aesthetic perspective. It felt false to him. Where was the monster who’d just attacked him?

“ _Kalan_ is dear to me as well. Not as he is to you, but in mos. We are two of a kind. I have missed him as you do now, with much of my soul. Can you not empathize with that?” 

Yeah. He could. He wanted not to.  
His resolution is fluctuating. 

“I will not allow harm to befall the _giall_ whom holds _Kalan_ as beloved. That is true in my spirit. The boy will not be left alone. There are many a _Diamae_ who watch over him as well for favour to me. I am not entirely certain of the things _Kalan_ revealed to you, but he is not unloved.” 

That was a lot to take in.  
His whole intellect is screaming to him that this is a bad idea, that he’s going to get himself in a spot he won’t be able to weasel out of, that he wouldn’t make it a moment into the obscure. 

His essence, his core, tells him to go.

“If I think for a second that Minyul will be left alone, I’m out. You’ll have to deal with it on your own,” he yields. 

“Agreed.”  
“I meet these _Diamae_ first.”  
“That is fine.”  
Taekwoon falters, but he bites down his apprehension.  
“And if it ends up that I can’t help, you’ll do everything you can to get him out of there.”  
“We are exhausting all of our efforts as we speak,” the _atua_ tells him. That puts no damper to his unease.  
“We leave tomorrow?” The human asks, fighting a yawn.  
“As soon as you are able.”  
Taekwoon nods. In spite of his anxieties, he’s already falling asleep. 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

The morrow comes too soon.  
They take few belongings. Food for Taekwoon and a flashlight. His phone. His identification. If he went missing, at least something should turn up.  
The _Diamae_ end up being a short, elderly couple. Or, they appear to be that way. They introduce themselves as Taekwoon’s great aunt and uncle. He would bristle, but the imperativeness of their mission causes him to desist. 

He drives where She tells him to go. It is not astonishing the whereabouts they end up. 

Taekwoon is in a love-hate relationship with this National Park. She does not tell him where to enter the forested area. He knows the path well by now. They begin with no exchange of words. To a passpoint, She had explained that morning. 

“Your longing is palpable.” She tells him sometime into their walk.  
“Get out of my head.”  
“Not your head,” She corrects him, shaking her own, and the bouncing curls of silver and iced blue hair run wild across her face. She must have washed when he was asleep. Was her hair naturally curly?  
“My heart?”  
“Exactly.”  
“Get out of my heart.”  
“You humankind are pigheaded,” She chides. Taekwoon sneers, but he won't look Her in the eyes either.  
The quiet daze of nature descends upon them again, swathing the pair in a tranquility only found in the deepest recesses of woods. Taekwoon is aware of how small he is. 

Distance passes until in the same area Taekwoon had wandered in search of his missing fae. There is nothing spectacular here. Or, perhaps Taekwoon is in the wrong, because his guide pauses just ahead of him, a few strides away. She lingers for a second (gathering herself together?) until She spots whatever She’s looking for. 

It turns out to be a bush. A barely visible bush with plum purple leaves that away to and fro from a breeze that teases the top of Taekwoon's hair but that he cannot feel on his flesh. A shiver passed through him despite this. There are thorns in this bush, protruding in their knifed shape, waiting to plunge into their prey. 

She ducks! weaves through the thicket of brambles and thorns that threaten to snag and entrap him soon as Taekwoon reacts to follow. The branches tug at his shirt and jeans, as if to drag him away, away from what was not meant for him to see otherwise. 

Opening up into the clearing, Taekwoon is struck with bewilderment. Somehow in his searching for Jaehwan when he was left alone those months ago, he missed this glade. He’d completely passed it by in his hysterical state. He shakes the leaves previously embedded into his hair from his head, but the true sight causes his jaw to drop. 

A freshwater spring takes up most of the open space, surrounded as it is by the teeming wildlife and overhanging ash trees that is all part of the pastoral scenery. Large, squared stones of a grey-whitish hue that have been worn down by time and the elements are covered in moss and greenery. They surround the spring like a wall of defense, preventing water from leaking across the grasslands encircling it save for tiny rivers in the mud that split into even smaller tracks to bring nourishment to the vegetation. He cannot tell how deep it is because of where they are, but he soon has a closer look, because She does not let him stop to ogle. They were here for a reason that was far more important than the beauty of the glade. 

When he’s standing beside the stone wall at ground level, Taekwoon can see that bubbles are rippling at the surface of the water. Was this fish and other aquatic creatures releasing pressure into the water? The bubbling is slow and precise, adding to the symphony of sounds around him as a beat. Everything was centered around this spring settled snugly into the earth. 

Inside the layer of stonework, the human can now see the separate spheres of this marine paradise. In a circular form, leaves, rocks and grasses accumulated to form a partition. Deeper, darker water swirls within the circle, and there’s no bubbling. All of the lifeforms were between the stone and the circle, but the pitch-black depths were barren of any vitality. Taekwoon nearly stumbles into the waters when he leans too far over the stones and misses his footing. He slides down a few feet into the mud at the banks of the spring before scrambling his way back to safety with trembling limbs and a heaving chest. When he looks behind him to Her, She has no humoured reaction to his antics. She doesn’t appear to have any reaction at all. She’s focused intently on the gurgling brook that is the focal point of the clearing. It indicates to Taekwoon that all was not as it seemed in this place. Maybe that should have been obvious from the start. Why else would She have brought him here? 

Taekwoon could find no source that fed the spring from a cursory look-around. This could be liquid coming from deep within the planet; from its core, now being set free from its confines and out into the freshness of the open world. That idea sets him on edge for some reason. 

“Calm yourself,” She tells him. Taekwoon is still hovering over the boundary that kept him from what looked like certain death. If he were to fall into those depths, he doubted he would be coming out intact. This is the feeling the blackwater left him with. 

It does not stick with him. Neither does the dark entity that it the waters’ depths. She is humming under her breath in an octave Taekwoon must strain to hear. He can feel it pulsating out of her, and he grits his teeth against the unpleasant sensation of low sound vibrations rocking his body. They resound all around him- beneath his feet the loose earth around the stones trembles with the force. When he raises his head, ripples are forming in the center of the spring.

In a blink, all grow still.  
He doesn't breathe.  
She doesn't move. 

The colours start ascending towards them.  
Taekwoon thinks it's a trick of the eye initially. He's seen so many crazy things just in the past twenty four hours that he was amazed at how well he was keeping his sanity. 

The colours are real. And they're becoming more pigmented as they cut through the void of the black water. 

Pearl aqua, turquoise and sapphire shapes promenade their way from the bottom of the darkness, coming towards them rapidly and with convolution. There is no rhyme to the swirling masses. They weave into and out of one another, faster and faster as they come closer and Taekwoon is even more drawn into the demented dance of the colours. They are so clear, magnified in their vivity as they were encompassed by darkness. The rest of the glade fades away until there is nothing else but the intense hues beckoning him forward. They want him to join them, Taekwoon can tell. He angles closer and closer to the pigments. He just wants to see them better. He can barely tell where one ends and the other begins. 

Taekwoon sinks down to his knees and leans over to reach for them. He's so close. The rest of the world is a fantasy. It's only him and the swirling, wavering, jumbled mass-

And then, just when he’s so close that he thinks he can touch them, he tumbles in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna thank you all for the support you're giving me for this story. It was just a fun thing I wanted to play around with and I never thought so many people would read and enjoy it. Thank you so so much.


	15. Barmecide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logic and Reason are nonsensical in places Taekwoon has no idea about.

Death is imminent. Taekwoon learned that lesson early in life. As his body is flung and sinks into the depths of the thrashing currents, be believes Death to be approaching sooner than anticipated. He tries to wriggle and worm his way back to the light of life, but that begins to fade as he’s dragged deeper and deeper into the abyss of marine blackness. The sun… where is the sun?

 

_Will he be able to see her again if he dies today?_

 

The water starts to suffocate him when he finally opens his mouth to let loose the building pressure in his chest that is a scream. It tears down his esophagus and trickles into his airways when there’s nowhere else for it to escape to. It begins to fill up his lungs so quickly -so painfully- when he screams again it’s in the agony of subjugation.

 

He’s going to die here.

 

As the current slows down, Taekwoon ceases his struggling. The energy is leaving his body, seeping out with every kick of his legs in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.

He can’t see a thing.

The emptiness, the space devoid of anything induced both claustrophobia and agoraphobia. He could move, but where to? All was empty. All was bleak. He’s already failed and Jaehwan was going to pay for his failure.

 

The sharp pain is different. It draws his attention away from the drifting. He’s submerged, no means of making it to the surface, but there are nails digging into his sides. No, not like metal nails. Fingernails?

 

Of a clawing grip wrenching him away from desolate thought.

He splutters, the water in his lungs bubbling up from his throat to dribble out onto the solid ground in front of him. Taekwoon’s body shudders as he wretches, convulsing with every shift of his diaphragm to dispel the aquatic intruder inside of him.

 

The impact of hard earth takes his breath away initially, but when he tries to take in any of the life-altering substance that it fresh air, he hacks. His organs must be coming up through his throat, because the coughs are jagged. They pitch his body back and forth, against the ground and then up into the air. Taekwoon becomes lost in panic, his hands reaching out to grab a hold of anything as liquid spews from his mouth and down his chin, soaking into his already waterlogged clothes.

 

There’s pressure against his chest, pushing down and then releasing its hold rhythmically. It sends the water coming out of his mouth faster, building up more momentum and he finds the power to push away from the mysterious force to lurch onto his side, spilling the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

 

Tears are streaming down the sides of his face and his nose is stuffed, but he feels marginally better than the brink of death. The frenzied man takes a lengthy breath, revelling in the bliss of oxygen rather than H2O taking its rightful place in his lungs.

 

A blurry face is staring down at him in concern, and Taekwoon needs a minute to recognize that it’s the Fae from before. The one that pushed him into the godforsaken hole. The one that was to blame for his suffering. He sneers.

 

The atua has to recognize Taekwoon’s anger because they back away in a rush. The human seizes his opportunity, using his forearms to prop himself against the ground and lift himself to sit up. It’s more exhausting than he anticipates. His breath comes faster than he would like it to.

 

“What the actual _fuck_ ,” he fumes. Heat gathers in his cheeks, a sign he’s losing control of his emotions and about to let out bottled frustrations.

 

“I-I do apologize!” The Fae stammers quickly as they get to their feet. The humanoid form blocks out a patch of light that Taekwoon only now realizes is not quite a sun, but an orb of yellow-white hue. It’s not bright enough to be the sun that he knows. “I knew there may be some repercussions of your kind travelling in such a manner, but it was not my knowledge that it would impact you in such a way. Please forgive me!” And the creature bows so low to him that Taekwoon is concerned that its head will strike the ground.

 

So, his anger dissipates and he focuses on lessening the stinging in his chest. It’s not their fault if they’re telling the truth, which seems likely considering all they could go on about before was how much they needed Taekwoon.

 

Now that all of his insides are in their proper places and functioning, Taekwoon can take in some of his surroundings. There really isn’t anything within touching range other than the solid terrain holding him up. It feels like dirt if the hard lumps against his butt and legs are anything to go off of, so that was something this place had in common with his home.

 

The atmosphere is different.

Something is off.

Something electric surrounding them.

Taekwoon only realizes this when he moves. As his limbs crack and groan with the effort of getting up (he ignores the hand offered to him because, well, he felt like being petty) the human feels it bearing down on him as though there are weighs tied the ends of his arms and feet. Or… not quite that. More like… rather than blood, lead is running through his veins. This presents a whole new problem in itself.

 

“What’s..?” His guide responds to his half-asked question nearly straight away, thankfully, because Taekwoon can barely complete a thought right now.

 

“The other side of the portal. A meet up spot, really. It was built intended for travellers, so there is little cause for concern here, although, there many a creature whom have not seen anything alike to you.”

 

Good. Taekwoon has likely never seen anything along the lines of them before either, so they were evenly matched on that playing field. He could do this. He could think of it as a football game. The goal; to free Jaehwan. The enemy team; literally anyone else in the general vicinity that would stand in his way.

 

And he wasn’t going to let that fly.

 

“I guess we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Taekwoon mumbles aloud.

“Kan-sass?”

“Nothing, nevermind,” he dismisses the curious voice and turns his attention to the chaos that he now sees just past the immediate line of vision ahead of him. Forget the near death experience and the fact that he was sopping wet, clothes clinging to his body- there were more interesting things going on. The low murmur of life is starting to meet his ears and he perks up to the sound. At first, it was fairly normal sounding, akin to a market at the hour right before dinner.

 

They’d have to get closer if he wanted to make sense of it.

 

“Ah, you’ve noticed it?” His guide notes.

“It’s hard to miss.”

“Yes… I suppose it is. Can you stand?”

“I’ll be fine,” Taekwoon brusquely answers. He forces himself to a standing position out of spite, brushing off the dust on the back of his pants even while his limbs silently scream in agony.

 

“And for walking?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Good. We have much of it.” And while Taekwoon hates the sound of that, it is a necessary evil. “We shall also change your clothing.”  
“You can’t just do something to dry it off? You know, a magic thing?” The human challenges, only to receive a dark look that he honestly deserves.

 

“It is so you will blend in. There are some low hanging branches over there. Can I trust you to remain safe to fetch you clothes?” The fae tells him, and Taekwoon knows that it isn’t up for debate.

He tries anyway. Of course.

 

“Just bring me. No one’ll pay attention to us if it’s that busy over there, right?”

His guide groans, hands twitching at their sides.

 

“I am asking you to stay. Please have more faith in me. It will make our journey easier. Walk and Stay.”

 

From none of his own doing, Taekwoon begins to move. His legs move robotically, turning him on his heel and edging him stiffly closer to the gap in the foliage the fae was pointing out before. He tries to revolt, but the sounds become stuck in his throat, refusing to emerge until he is under the safe canopy of dense vegetation.

 

His body is snug to the trunk of a tree weeping sap. The amount of the substance that is stuck to his clothes by the time his guide comes back to him is alarming, and Taekwoon worries he’ll be cemented forever, but the fae tugs him away with surprising strength. Then Taekwoon can speak.

 

“Will you stop fucking around with me!” Is what he blurts out the second he can. He begins to shiver. A wind was picking up, chilling the already cool flesh underneath his damp attire. Why were they even wasting time with this? They should be on their way to Jaehwan by now!

 

“I will stop when you stop acting like a petulant child. Put these on.” The fae is holding out some cotton thing, and it’s a brown shade that reminds Taekwoon all too much of chocolate pudding. His stomach growls louder than he cares to admit, but he shrugs it away by snatching the cloth out of the fae’s hands.

 

“Can you… Not look?” Is that silly to ask? They’re standing alone in the middle of a forested area not dissimilar to the one they entered from when it came to the types of greenery. Or did trees all look the same to Taekwoon? He bet Jaehwan knew a fair amount about trees. He should ask them when he got him back.

 

“Yes. I will turn around and be sure there is no one approaching,” says the fae and Taekwoon trusts them to do at least that.

 

Years of being in a changeroom taught him not to be too self- conscious of his body, but a changeroom had four walls on all sides that kept his nude body from prying eyes, and here there was little other than leaves to hide his promiscuity. Was it promiscuity? Taekwoon was not getting a thrill out of this.

 

He sucks in a breath. He doesn’t let it go until he’s lifted his shirt and slipped the fabric over his head. It’s a coat; a long one. It stretches from his jugular to his toes, so he feels like he’s choking when he tries to bend over to retrieve his shirt, but it was warm. He should be able to keep his pants on because of that fact.

 

“Should I just carry this?” The human wonders, barely audible, but his guide picks up on it.

“No. Keep it here, hidden beneath something. Human objects should intrude as little as possible for our stay.”

So Taekwoon hides his shirt under a rock and makes a mental note of the location. If they came back this way, he was pretty sure he’d be able to tell where it was.

 

“Put the hood up for now, too. It will not be out of place, and it will cover your human features,” the faerie instructs him. Not wanting a repeat of before, Taekwoon does as he’s told. If he was doing that, he was doing it of his own accord rather than being mind- controlled.

 

“Can we go now?” The antsiness is eating at him now. Taekwoon has a mighty urge to move, to run to wherever they need to go. Is Jaehwan safe? Is he comfortable? Are they hurting him again?

 

Wow, he needs to cut those thoughts short because his accomplice winces.

 

“Right, sorry,” Taekwoon grumbles. Stay calm, he tells himself. Stay calm and be smart.

 

“Follow me. If you are engaged, do not say a word, only nod. It is sincere here. So long as there are no Arcana posted here, we will have no problems,” the guide rapid fires at him with Taekwoon nodding along to every word because what else is he supposed to do.

 

The asparas gestures with a pointed finger for the human to follow, so he sets into a step behind the creature.

 

A looming smog envelops the air the closer they come to the bustling brink of commotion, and Taekwoon is filled with need to sneak a glance.

 

“Oh.” The broad object filling his view from before was actually a massive archway extending across five doorways. No indication of what lay ahead of any were supplied. He really would be lost if he was left here alone.

With no hesitation, his guide leads Taekwoon to the door second from the far left and pushes the door aside. It does not swing shut behind them.

 

There are buildings here. Some are the same size as the ones back home, but they are mostly small and Taekwoon becomes aware that the reality wasn’t that the small city (?) was far away, but that it was predominantly tiny.

 

“A bazaar,” he finally comes to the conclusion. A six-foot tall bazaar.

“Yes, I suppose it is fairly bizarre.”

“No I-, you know what? Nevermind.” It would be better if Taekwoon could learn to keep his mouth shut, because his guide was a dull blade in a butcher shop for his experience.

 

It’s the beings that really grab Taekwoon’s attention. All of them fall below his knee, all of them fail to scatter when the thomp of feet nearly as big as they are stomp down on their organization.

 

There are monsters and beasts all around, milling about. Some pay him little mind, and the next moment he understands why. When Taekwoon looks behind him to watch the critters from beneath his tinted hood, he can also see the abyss of water he was pulled from. All manner of living things are exiting the portal. There are slimy subjects who secrete what Taekwoon assumes to be acidic substances with the cracking of the ground they slither on. A being of gigantic form with brightly coloured tones of flesh walks on five legs, or perhaps one of them is a tail? None of them looked in any state similar to him. All were calm, collected. All pushed themselves to their feet (if they had any) and walked confidently away from the aquatic Hell to join the throng. The surge of newcomers does nothing to lessen the density of the crowds which are swaying to and fro to make room on either side of a slim entranceway into what Taekwoon assumes to be a congregation.

 

The door closes silently, slowly, as another beast approaches it from the other side.

 

“What… is this..?” Taekwoon marvels, not expecting an answer.

He gets one.

“The Hub.” His guide helps. “One of three means into this realm from yours. Of course, there are others not from yours, but those are not to be trifled with. Especially not you, who can barely travel through your own.”

Was this prick making fun of him?

“That’s not what we need to focus on. You should not be noticed. It will end badly. Actually…”

 

Taekwoon is soon swathed by a soft blanket of something and he figures it to be the cloak that the hooded figure donned since they were devoid of it when Taekwoon could see again.

 

“Uhh?”

“It will mask you even further. There are certain protections on it that will do more good for you than they will do for me,” the atua explains and Taekwoon shrugs it off. Whatever. This way no one could see his shoes, but now he had to worry about not tripping over his own two feet.

 

His companion is strange without the cloak. They have a slighter frame than Taekwoon anticipated, and their outfit now is reminiscent of a tunic were it not made from an unfamiliar material. The same one as the cloak, with its swirling patterns and changing colours. The human chose not to dwell on it.

 

This new security didn’t stop him from looking curiously around though, and perhaps his meandering eyes were more of a problem than his running mouth when it came to this place.

 

“There is an empty home not far from here. It will be our safe place. Try to keep up as it will be extremely difficult to locate you once you become lost,” his guide hisses. “Quickly.” And that’s all the warning Taekwoon has before the Fae sets out at a brisk pace, weaving through the patchwork of creatures whose humanoid noses are starting to wiggle as they scent the air.

“H-hold on! Wait!” But the guide is acting deaf to his pleas and Taekwoon needs to sprint to catch up to the fast disappearing figure. The danger of treading on the beings heightens and Taekwoon hears squeaks of indignation from ankle height. He passes by stands selling something at his feet by creatures who are so small a domestic house cat would hunt them for sport.

 

There are chirps at his ear before there are cries in the air, selling things, selling things, buying things. Currency?

 

“A golip two! A golip hrife!” Taekwoon hears briefly right next to his ear in a shrill tone until the sound is drowned out by his own beating heart and laboured breaths while he chases his only ally in the mysterious realm.

 

How do they all manage not to step on these tiny business stands?

 

They must move like that for hours because even the football player, whose endurance is in peak form, is having problems with keeping a steady breathing pace. He’s noticed that the stands are becoming increasingly taller, but only in marginal leaps. The same society as before -or, they look the same to him anyway- has also grown. The majority of them come to his waist now and they’re decidedly grumpy about the ruckus he’s causing.

 

None of them stop his guide, so Taekwoon has no time to apologize. Not like they’d understand him.

 

If he thought his legs were aching before, it was nothing compared to the fire burning in his muscles now. The silent protests were wearing down on him significantly, slowing his stride until he’s dragging his body forward.

 

The fae notices when Taekwoon doubles over. Then there’s a hand on his back.

 

“We are so nearly there. You can make it, I know you can. Find the strength.”  
Does Taekwoon have any strength left? He’d have to find some. Jaehwan needs him.

 

But, it’s not Jaehwan he thinks about. Instead, when Taekwoon’s eyes squeeze shut to find motivation, it’s Minyul’s face. His nephew’s smile when Taekwoon picks him up from school or tutor. The way his little voice cheers and how Taekwoon can imagine hearing him so clearly when he’s on the field that it gives him the drive to be the best he can be. Taekwoon has an obligation to him, too.

 

“Right. Alright. I’m good.”

And they’re off again.

Nothing about the sky is changing.

 

The FaeFolk, for that is certainly what they are, are still growing larger. Here, they stretch out wings like butterflies and hover inches above the ground, chirping to one another in delight. It makes it easier to follow his guide. Taekwoon just has to look for footprints here. It’s only his and theirs.

 

The sudden halt of Taekwoon’s movements is elicited by a swerve in the footprints. Instead of leading him further along the lit stretch of ground, they turn sharply and end in front of a plank of wood resting against the side of a dwelling with a roof hardly taller than the Korean man’s head.

 

“Nope,” Taekwoon mumbles to himself. “Hell no.” Turning his head from side to side, he jumps in place when his guide suddenly appears in the spot beside him. Taekwoon claps a hand to his mouth to stop from yelling aloud.

 

“Apologies. I am positive this is it now. Do not be alarmed,” and Taekwoon’s suspicious expression is undeniably apparent when the fae raps their knuckles five times against the plank.

 

The voice that comes from it is deeper than Taekwoon expects.

 

“ _Pibi pobi, hentes tes_ I care not,” the Greeter says to him. “ _Compe Omrywm_?”

 

“ _Nywm. Giall_ ,” Taekwoon’s guide responds and the human wants to bash his head against the side of the building. He hates not knowing things.

 

“ _Giall_?” Taekwoon knows what astonishment sounds like. Before he knows it, the piece of plank is being pushed away and he’s dragged by his shoulders into a room that looks cold, damp and entirely unpleasant. The hood on top of his head brushes against the ceiling of the room and Taekwoon rushes to push it back into place before his face becomes visible.

 

“ _Giall? Giall_?” A chorus of voices is repeating the word now but Taekwoon can’t see any of them. Whatever light had streamed in through the opening is gone, so he’s left guessing. Nothing is touching him presently, though, and that’s a win in his books.

 

“ _Giall_ ,” his guide says again but they were becoming… annoyed? The human only knows it’s his guide guiding him by his shoulders because Taekwoon remembered their speech, but where are they taking him now?

 

Through another door.

This new room is dimly lit, but Taekwoon can see, so relief de- stresses him momentarily. There’s a cushioned something pressed to the far wall, and though it’s definitely too short to lie down on properly without ending up with a crick in the neck, it may as well be salvation. The icy-haired figure is stepping lightly inside behind him, allowing the quiet of the room to truly settle. Taekwoon droops.

 

“Rest,” comes the gentle tone.

 

“Yeah,” he agrees, forcing himself to the padded cushion. He sinks into it immediately upon contact. Was it filled with cotton or feathers? It doesn’t matter either way.

The hairs on his arms stand up straight and there’s a rush of blood to his head with how fast he raises it. There is no visual threat that he can make out, however. Just him and the Fae.

 

Now that he’s not moving, he can pay attention to the peculiar happenings of his body. Not just the raised hairs, but all across his flesh was the ghost of unseen fingers creeping across his skin. The drumming of his heart can’t settle with this sensation.

 

Taekwoon curls up into himself with knees nearly pressed to his chest to try and ignore the feeling. He has no chance to.

 

“Allow me to guess. You are shivering, yet feel no cold. Your teeth chatter, your heart is beating faster. You are not supposed to be here, and the place knows this. You must endure it. For his sake.”

Squinting, the human can make out the silhouette of the atua. The pupils of her eyes are dilated to such a point they nearly block the irises entirely, and that startles Taekwoon to no end.

 

If Taekwoon were to decipher the look he was getting, the eyes staring back at him are pleading. Pleading with him to be strong.

 

He’s so distressed.

He’ll bite down on his tongue and bear it for as long as he can.

 

“How long until I can see him.”

“You would think of it as hours. Perhaps four your time.”

“Why so long? You told me I have a right to him,” Taekwoon points out, more snappily than he intends. He sucks on the insides of his cheeks to lessen the chill creeping up his spine. It’s like thousands of microscopic creatures are spreading out over his skin, attempting to seep into his flesh. It doesn’t hurt.

 

“We will not be allowed access to him so long as the Elders are in council,” and Taekwoon has no clue what that means.

 

“ OK, so where is he?” He tries instead.

 

“At the sect of the Elders most likely if he is to stand trial. They will keep him under a close watch to ensure that he does not escape this time.”

 

This time?

“But he was sent to me,” Taekwoon prods, confused.

 

“He was. As banishment. He was meant to stand trial in the past, but his bad behavior was always habit. Running from the Elders brings a punishment in itself,” the Fae tells him and Taekwoon bristles. Images flash of the marks streaking Jaehwan’s back.

 

“Sounds totalitarian.”

“What is that?”

“A bad thing,” Taekwoon explains, unhelpfully. The creature does not implore further.

 

“Will you indulge me?” It voices instead, and the human grunts in reply.

“What would you have been without Kalan?”

“What do you mean by that?”

The guide sighs and it’s such a human gesture that Taekwoon is forced to crack a muted smile.

“I did sense that there was much hurt you were harbouring - do still.”

“I hate that,” the human states, plainly.

“But,” the creature goes on. “You have not acted on this hurt. You do not have the aura.”

“I don’t believe in auras.”

“Belief or failure to believe is not of consequence. Rather, it exists and it does not necessarily match your deep rooted emotions. So, I ask you. What would you be without Kalan?” And when the hooded figure looks at Taekwoon again, he realizes how serious an inquiry this is.

So he thinks.

He thinks hard.

(They have hours to go before he can make a move, after all.)

 

“I…” No. What would he be? Lost? Loathing? Lost in his loathing? He could be pretty spiteful, but that happened even when Jaehwan was around. So… maybe…

 

“I’d be less happy,” he decides.

 

“Less happy? You would still have happiness inside of you?” Taekwoon is prompted further.

 

“I have a son,” he explains. Yeah. He has a son. He’d be able to live with just Minyul. But, if not for that...

 

“Ah.” And the creature smiles. So maybe that was the right answer. “It would be best to rest until the new day graces us again. Fair morrow.”

 

“Yes. What you said. Back at you.” Taekwoon attempts to find common ground, but when his replier is silence, his confidence deteriorates. Oh well. A few hours of sleep would do him some good, right?

 

Growing up, he didn’t remember his dreams. There was never anything vivid enough for him to cling to while the dregs of sleep were pulled away from him with the chiming of his alarms. So Taekwoon had an easy time brushing off any craziness of his less wakeful self or imaginative reach. He could rationalize his way through things anyway.However, if dreams happened consecutively and repeatedly, if they plagued him night after night- he would be forced to recall them.

 

There was a horror that left him drenched in a cold sweat even into adulthood that Taekwoon would sooner be tortured than talk about.

 

It was only when he woke up and the memory of where he was came back to him that the human faced the reality that he’d never suffered the dream with Jaehwan in his bed.

 

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

 

Forceful shaking rouses him from sleep, and Taekwoon blinks the weariness in his eyes away to bat hands at the attacker. Darkness is ubiquitous where he is until his visuals adjust to the lighting.

 

The atua is staring down at him, her eyes round with curiousity before she looks relieved.

“Good, you have awoken. Another Messenger informed me that the Elders are out of Council. We should make haste,” she informs him and Taekwoon has no idea what she’s said until she grabs onto his hand and hauls him to his feet.

 

Hey.

When did she get her robe back?  
Taekwoon looks down at his chest. Well. She left the ugly brown thing on. That was as much as he could ask for.

 

“You cannot be shielded for them or they will think you an imposter,” is the explanation he never asked for.

He guessed that made sense.

“How far..?” Taekwoon manages to get out as he runs the back of his hand over his lips and chin. It didn’t feel like there was any drool, so his image was spared for now.

 

The asparas hesitates, thinking.

“I suppose… twenty minutes? I cannot be exact.”

“No. That’s fine,” Taekwoon eases, waving a hand before a yawn interrupts him.

 

“Right. When we leave this room, look straight ahead and answer no questions. Do not look down,” she tells him, and Taekwoon nods because that’s really the only thing he’s capable of. Waking up without his alarm is a trip. Is this how other people feel in the morning?

 

He does what he’s told, ignoring the now recognizable cacophony from the creatures of the (day? night?) before until he’s emerging into the same light as he remembers. His body also remembers the tiredness from their trek and Taekwoon is in woe that he may not make it this journey.

 

What Taekwoon remembers is clutching onto the back of the Fae’s cloak in a childish fashion. She does not move with the same haste this time, so he focuses on not stepping on her heels as they weave through yet another section of this realm he has no desire to come to know.

 

When she halts, he crashes into her back. The atua pays no heed to him.

 

“We are here,” she announces.

 

So he takes a look.

 

“Well that’s ominous.”

An understatement. Unlike his realm’s laws of physics, there was no build up to the massiveness of the superstructure the closer they got. Rather, one moment it was not there and the next it was.

 

His guide grabs him by the arm and yanks him away from the line of sight to the wall of the dwelling. The impact of the hit to the hard panelling causes him to wince, and his guide shushes him.

 

“Sorry,” he mutters. “Are we hiding?”

“Yes,” she snaps at him and Taekwoon bites down on his lip.

“Hey, there’s a gate over there.” He finally points out after minutes of silence and her staring up the wall at something he can’t make out.

 

“It is for distinguished guests. I am waiting for my intel to let us go passed.”

Taekwoon decides he isn’t going to talk again.

Moments go by.

The human rests his hands to the wall. It reminds him of stone, but it is coloured immaculately, like marbled ebony. Was it natural?

 

“No!”

The cry comes from Taekwoon’s side, where the atua is hammering their fists to the building. As if on queue, a previously invisible force prevents any impact from her hands. She can’t get to it.

 

“It won’t let me through,” the fae groans, exasperated. “Why? Why? Enral should have made an opening!”

 

“Uh…”

“What?” She snaps at him while turning pointedly. Taekwoon hasn’t known the atua for very long, but this outburst is out of character for her.

 

“I can touch it, if that helps.” He raps his knuckles to the stone to prove his point.

Her expression changes drastically in so short a time period that Taekwoon blinks and he misses it.

 

“Yes! You are granted entry! It must be an enchantment to stop intention,” the atua reasons. Taekwoon pretends to understand.

 

“You will get in. I am certain of it. On my life you will find him.” There is so much conviction in those eyes that Taekwoon dares not to defy them. He presses himself to the side of the building, awaiting the inevitable discovery of their delinquent selves.

 

“So, what do we do now?” He decides to ask. The fae pauses.

“You will have to go in alone. I will find a way to get to you as soon as I am able,” she instructs him.

“I would prefer not to,” is his rebuke.

It’s futile.

 

“Even the gate is open to you,” his guide awes while Taekwoon can only swallow the hard lump in his throat. She’s right. As if in return to their conversation, the great silver gates of the great wonder are shrieking as they part. This exposes the inside of the manor to their traipsing gazes and Taekwoon is entirely put off by the brownish gunk that looks to be filling the inside of the building.

 

“Yeah, that’s neat.”  
“Go on!” She urges in a hushed whisper. Palms press into the small of his back, pushing the human closer and closer to the cavernous opening. This must have been what Gepetto saw when he was swallowed by the whale.

 

“Hey, uh, maybe this is a bad id-!” And he’s cut off, because when he passes the threshold between the door and the outside world, he enters into a fog.

It’s murky, with substance. Taekwoon attempts to turn his head to look back at his guide, but he’s unable to. He can only power his way forward. By swinging his arms in a swimming motion, he moves slightly faster.

 

What he thinks of is gelatin. Thick, cocoa gelatin, not dark enough to be chocolate pudding, but too light for caramel. Taekwoon hates gelatin.

 

So when he’s freed from it, the human claws onto the open space that his fingertips are bare to and tugs himself to safety. He emerges into an open area of bitter brightness.

 

It is not bright like a sunny day.

Taekwoon is suffocated by it, actually.

There are tidbits of the natural enclosing the room. Odd, seeing its vastness. A gurgling spring is audible from some distance away; Taekwoon cannot see it.

 

He shields his eyes with his hand, but then remembers that this thing he’s wearing has a hood on it. Right. He should have probably put that up before, but he was distracted.

 

There is some respite in having the hood on. Taekwoon can imagine that if his face is unseen then he is protected from the forces of the castle. That’s what this has to be. A castle. A Council Castle? He starts to move.

 

Not helpful that he has no idea where to start. There could be a labyrinth of rooms awaiting him and Taekwoon would be stuck searching forever. This is a bad idea. This is a very bad idea. When did he agree to this part of the deal?

 

He does see creatures eventually. They stalk around corners in groups of two, wearing illustrious colours that are so vivid that they would be easy targets if Taekwoon were to use them for football practice. He could probably kick that ball square at their faces by avoiding the colours.

 

He can’t think about that. There are no places to hide here. The walls are smooth and pristine. There are no cracks or crevices to crawl into, and if he backtracks now, he know how to come back to this place.

 

This is a spider’s web, and he’s turned into a fly.

Taekwoon holds his breath and hopes for the best.

 

They pass straight by him without a second glance. In aporia, the human refuses to make a move for several more seconds before sprinting away from the area.

It has to be magic.

That’s why they made him ditch his human clothes.

That has to be it. No other explanation.

Taekwoon will believe that for now.

He’s coming across rows of doors.

 

There are few other bodies lying wait for him. The Elders that reside here must be certain of their safety; there is little security. Taekwoon merely must wait and hold his breath as he passes the people he sees while the brown of the ugliest jacket in the universe obscures him.

Bless magic.

Bless magic in the name of every god out there.

 

He still has no idea where he needs to be.

Where is his Fae? Every hallway looks the same, probably for this exact reason. No matter where he ambles, the same foreboding mint walls enclose hin. Ironic. There is nothing peaceful about this greenery.

 

Taekwoon begins to feel panic rising inside of him. It starts with the shortness of breath. When he finds it hard to breathe, he knows he’s a goner.

 

What if he never finds Jaehwan in this labyrinth of tunnels? Or if there’s no way out? Surely if he could be concealed so easily there was a way to make it impossible for him to escape. Was that why there was no security? Because he was being led around like a lamb for the slaughter? They were probably waiting for him. With every turn they were waiting for the intruder. His worry continued to worsen the longer he went without seeing a soul. What in the blazes was this awful place?

 

But, then there’s a door. Well, there had been countless doors by this point, but no reason to propel him through any of them. It wasn’t even that this door was an outlier. It was sitting in the middle of this hallway God knows how many turns into the damn place. It looked just like any other, yet Taekwoon had a mighty need to push through. His borrowed clothing was forcing him to anyway. Was it infused with something of Jaehwan’s to track him? That wasn’t an absurd idea in this place.

 

It’s locked. Of course it is. When he tries that wretched handle, it jangles, but it does not give way. So, Taekwoon curses. What the fuck can he do now? Of course they wouldn’t be keeping charged captives hostage without putting a lock on their cages.

 

He falls in front of the door. He has no drive to move anymore. Taekwoon’s legs are tired -worse, they twingue. He must have been wandering for longer than he believed. So, he gathers the skirts of the cloak around him, winding them tight around his form. If just one person with a key, one guard, could come and unlock this door, he would be relieved.

 

So hours have to go by because Taekwoon is cramping. His curled up position beside the door is not comfortable, but he’s stayed stock still for fear of being found. Someone does show up, though. It’s a small thing, barely larger than two feet, who’s carrying a basin of water and a circular object that Taekwoon learns to be the key for the door. The thing has to insert it into one of three locks set into the door; one for its height, one for a creature of human height, and another for one much larger. Taekwoon is relieved that it is the smaller being that is the answer to his call.

 

As the door swings open, Taekwoon utilizes years of training to slip in just behind the creature without brushing up against it. All progress would be lost if he fucked it up here and he just can’t afford that. Now that he knows there’s a chance to truly have Jaehwan by his side again, he won’t pass it up.

 

Yet his worrying didn’t prepare him for what he was subject to see once inside that room.

 

A sight that has his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach and eyes welling up with tears the tears that have been left unshed week after lonesome week.

 

“No,” he whispers into the openness of the room. There are no bars. There are few restraints. There is only a man sitting in a chair staring into space. He has no reaction to Taekwoon’s outburst.

 

“Jaehwan.” His voice crackles into the open air.

 

And the figure jerks its head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *in marios voice* Oh look-a... itsa me... updating-a way-a too late-a


	16. Coronae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaehwan has weaknesses that have nothing to do with physicality.

There is never ending empty space. Jaehwan a miniscule splash of colour enclosed by it. The white tiled floors, the white paneled walls, the white shackles that bind the fae boy to a pristine chair of teetering legs.

Black is absence of colour, isn’t it?  
So why is it so empty here?

Jaehwan’s neck cricks. To the side, because the intruder of the day is another same-faced, simple-minded prick that’s going to poke and prod at him until he breaks. He won’t, though. They’ll never know just how much he’s got stored up in this blond head of his. A blond head with hair standing on end, strands stuck together by matted clots of blood and sweat that stick out at odd angles. Jaehwan might feel like a mad scientist if he weren’t a prisoner. 

Right. That’s all he was here. It’s all he was to them.   
It’s all he’s ever been. 

A slow, sadistic smile spreads over the face of his caretaker. Jaehwan’s right hand twitches as the figure approaches. If only, if only he was able to raise a finger to those who continuously wronged him. 

“ _Kalan_ ,” the thing drawls in their own tongue. He despises the way is sounds now. The name holds no meaning to him anymore. Jaehwan’s expression remains fixed and stoic, even if his eyes flash at the beast. 

“Special treat today, _Kalan_. Oh yes, oh yes, special treat,” it chants. Nearer and nearer, raised volume of the mantra until Jaehwan has to look up to keep eye contact with the monster that will be his meister. 

Not a word from the fae being detained. It’s been like this for a long time now. Or was it? It was hard to tell the difference between hours and days with a revolving schedule that had no make or magic to it. Jaehwan used to count the minutes to keep himself sane. The times between the shifts for the patrols on him. Turned out it was hard to count when needles were being forced into his flesh and electric currents ran through his veins. 

His stomach is roiling now at the anticipation of the pain, but he could deal with it. He would deal with it. This was nothing close to his breaking point. 

But Jaehwan still flinches when the long, curved nails of the _rutia_ scrape the immaculate flooring as it moves closer and closer. It can grab at him now. He anticipates the oily slide of its fingers to his skin. The _rutia_ were always the touchiest of the sects, and the most unnerving with their slick skin. Snitches, they were.   
The touch never comes.

“No, no, none of this,” the _rutia_ drawls with its face only inches from Jaehwan’s.  
What?   
Jaehwan’s confusion is evident in the uncertainty of his gaze, so the thing jeers. 

“Nothing pain. Nope, nope. _Allearain_ says no.” It sneezes. Jaehwan grimaces, turning his head to the side. The rooms here make him weak. Spittle settles on his cheek and he’s hard pressed to wipe it away when even jerking at his wrist causes a sharp pain to tear down his thumb into his palm. Dislocating the joint was an option, but he’s been kept awake for so long Jaehwan has trouble recalling his own age at this point. 

Sleep is an alarming thing. It’s been alluding him for most of the time he’s been locked up, and he’d been drifting a while before the interruption. So as the (foot tall? Two foot in stature?) thing rambles, Jaehwan lets himself doze. 

Keeping himself at human height was exhausting enough when he was among humans, but now it was downright torture. The fae is at a loss as to how they’re doing it, but he’s been unable to change since he was shackled. Logically, it made sense. His captors had to be sure he wouldn’t break out by shrinking to a size small enough to ease out of the cuffs. Fair enough. 

Would he run if he could, though?   
There was hope in him when they dragged him -kicking and screaming- into the confines of the Council. Jaehwan had wanted to find his sister first; he just wanted to see her again. He needed to. At some point, he would need to sneak into the fortress.

He’d been found too quickly to fulfill that need.   
The asparas relished in two days of freedom after crossing the portal. It was all that he would receive, he’d come to know. The illness that plagued him among humans quickly dissipated only to be replaced by further physical ailments. 

Fatigue. Dizziness. Weariness settled heavily in his bones from the amount of energy he expelled, so Jaehwan shrunk the second he could and retreated to a height far above the commotion of Fae. He liked it where the air was fresh and any noise was muffled. He always liked places like that. Or maybe it just resembled Taekwoon’s apartment. 

The mesh greenery of the human world faded to be replaced by the sight and sounds of the universe he was born into. The stars were out. Jaehwan’s longing to see those was the same as the urge to be with his family. 

It was so vast, so infinite, so young and full. 

There were hours he spent staring. In a place that was mostly night, he could let himself do that.   
With dilated pupils, the galaxy opened up to him as he hid as close to them as he was able in a pocket-sized body to bask in the glory of the cosmos.   
So they filled his lungs, and he began to be whole.   
The dawn came before long. 

In quiet daybreak, Jaehwan was cornered. The fae wasn’t doing much to hide himself; he wasn’t a warrior. They were a totally different sect and had no manners. He wasn’t quiet, but Jaehwan could be polite when he wanted to be. 

Sensibility was his enemy here. Jaehwan was aware that years of hatred for him would make talking his way out of the situation impossible. He’d still tried, because Minyul would be upset if he found out Jaehwan went to fisticuffs instead. What if he hurt someone? Curse the human sentimentality that prevented him from trusting his instincts. 

Sure, he had all these things he could do that would wow an unsuspecting victim. Party tricks, if he’s being critical. Jaehwan prefers the trees and the earth to rough punches and grit. 

That does nothing for him when he’s doubled over and struggling to breathe; the wind knocked out of him. A knee to the chest with enough force could do that to a person. Go figure. 

So when he gasps, unable to even cry out, shadows of figures envelop him in a suffering heap of cloth and congestion. Jaehwan struggles, he really truly does, but he isn’t a match for able-bodied soldiers on a mission. How did they know of his return already? Was there no one on his side? 

His captors had propped him up like a mannequin, lifting him away from the solid surface of the granite structure he’d taken solace on until Jaehwan’s legs dangled in the open air. His weakness never went unnoticed. There was a breath of air in his face and the muttering of a few words he never was able to make out, then his eyelids became incredibly heavy. 

Jaehwan remembered looking up once more, praying that he would be accepted by the stars before everything started to spin.

He never stopped struggling.   
He would wriggle his body as hard as he could in opposition to the brutish brace encircling him. There were times the _Diamae_ heard muttered cursing and hisses from the group, and that would bring him momentary satisfaction.   
Jaehwan yelled out. If anyone heard the racket he caused, they either closed their windows to the auditory onslaught or ignored him entirely. 

They must not have liked that part, though. A piece of cloth is stuffed into his mouth to prevent anything over than choked howls coming from him. It makes it harder to breathe. It’s hard to breathe!  
He can’t breathe. 

The spots dance in front of his eyes as lilliputian comets. He knows he’s going to pass out. 

Jaehwan wakes up in the white room. Groggy and delirious, the cuffs were tightly woven at four points around his body; around his wrists, ankles, thighs and as a band around his jugular. They were too tight. No one cared.

He rotted there. The fae was unaware that he wasn’t in his true form until fatigue jaded him. Figures that came into and out of the room always changed in form and shape, length to width and proportion. They had the same job, though. Ask Jaehwan a question, prod him if he failed to answer, hurt him if he outright refused. 

Jaehwan refused a lot of the time.  
The questions were stupid.   
“Where were you?” Where they banished him. Why would they ask?  
“Who were you with?” His ‘owner’. Was that what they wanted him to say? Jaehwan wasn’t letting slip Taekwoon was his lover, that was for damned sure.   
“What are their names?” Fuck off. Just electrocute him and be over it. 

Punishment changed up sometimes. The sleep deprivation was one. Those were the moments Jaehwan was unable to discern fiction from reality. 

In the back of his head, there were blurred images of two people. One small, one tall. They would hold hands. They might even call out to him.

If he strained, he could hear their calls. The soft one of a child who never questioned and only accepted. Jaehwan was a fool for holding it close to his heart, wasn’t he? And what of the _giall_.

What of the _giall_? 

Reciprocation was never a factor. Jaehwan took whatever was given, because if he gave more and more of himself away, there was a higher chance he would get something back.   
Isn’t that how karma works?  
So why is he caged like a dangerous animal?  
Then again, this is probably what he deserved. Too bad he never listened to his sister. This could’ve been avoided if he had.   
Jaehwan is such a bad listener. 

He hasn’t heard a word the other creature has said for the past few minutes, actually. It’s because the thing was done speaking, instead scanning the room with bulged eyes and a lolling tongue. Jaehwan can see saliva dripping passed those ruptured taste buds to leave a trail behind its feet.   
Disgusting. 

“Move.”  
“What?” Jaehwan snaps as the throbbing of his chest eases.   
“Must move. Time to move.”  
Jaehwan’s shoulders are yanked painfully forward as the creature grabs a hold of the heart of the chains. The force jostles Jaehwan forward and out of the safety net of the four-legged upholstery piece that both cut the circulation to his legs and gave him rest from the anguish of torture. The captured fae winces as his knees knock against the hard ground, and his legs scramble out from underneath him, the soles of his bare feet searching for purchase against the smooth floor. 

“Must move. Waiting for you.” Jaehwan despises the cut sections of speech the Folk here used. How was he supposed to have a conversation with his fellow convicts if they were barely literate? 

He’s trying to make light of his situation. It proves to be difficult when he’s being dragged away from his cage and to a panel at the side of the room. Upon closer inspection, Jaehwan can see the circular incision meant for a key to fit into. These keys were pretty tough to imitate; each one had such specific sizing that they only fit into certain locks, making the fortress nearly impossible to raid.   
Not totally impossible, though.   
He knew just a few of the ins and outs. 

Jaehwan casts one more fleeting look at the box of a room that had become his own for the past (weeks? months?) while pushing down an enormous dread building inside of him. There is something very, very wrong.   
He’s suddenly and horrendously queasy. Then again, this could be his final judgement. 

The door shuts behind them, and Jaehwan is thrust into light so brilliant he’s momentarily blind. Evidently, the white light of his cell hasn’t worn down his eyes, but this is so bright it makes shades dance in the corners of his vision. There’s no time to blink them away before the monstrosity of a Fae whirls him through a series of corridors too small for his broad shoulders to comfortably squeeze through. Jaehwan has to rely on sound and smell to ensure he doesn’t bump and crash into the ceiling or walls. 

The top of his head is constantly brushing up against something firm, so he assumes that to be the ceiling. If it wasn’t, he had a bigger problem. 

Temporary physical blindness does not keep his mind from reeling. Jaehwan is well aware of where they’re headed. 

It was called the Council Room, but the benevolent name hides a sinister history. The grossest of criminals were tried in that room, though few were ever set free. The mere mention of the name brought a chill to asparas and criafaerie alike- those who were under the sanction of the _Allearain_. Notorious for keeping order and peace, the _Allearain_ preferred to keep distance from their rowdy cousins, outlawing various other Fae languages from being spoken under their rule.

It was nothing like the good old days. Jaehwan was too young to remember, but there were stories from before the new times, when FaeFolk of all breeds mingled in relative harmony.   
There were scrapes here and there, but that was nothing compared to the hold of absolute control. 

Jaehwan was first brought to Counsel for speaking the outlawed _Ddornn_ language, which was a mixture of human Latin and _nullea. Nullea_ became a sect, but those under the name were not of true _Nullea_ blood; those were wiped out long ago.

Then there was the incident with the singing, and after, he was caught swapping stories with the _Luitran_ , a gigantic race with pure dispositions.  
Then, there was his sister. And Jaehwan never did quite recover from that one.

What right did they have to do that to him? To take away his last sanctuary?   
He shouldn’t have learned what he did that night when he came back to Question. It was unheard of, to Question a direct order of the _Allearain_. Jaehwan enjoyed doing things that were unheard of. 

Overhearing that the _Allearain_ were planning to demolish the _Sylia_ and _Diamae_ sects, though? It would set their entire order into ruin. The act would cut off ties to the human realm indefinitely; those two groups were the only ones who could safely travel to the _giall_ realm. 

Jaehwan was unable to get the word out. After too loud a gasp, he’d been apprehended by warriors and taken to a far reach of the fortress. He never did figure out why they let him live. 

But then he was banished. A blessing and a curse, really. 

The weaving pattern his guide is taking him down now feels familiar. In another time, when he was a different asparas, he’d been down this path. 

The Council Room is truly a spacious, cylindrical cavity decorated with tiles of lilac and jade which oozed a weirdly minty scent.   
It’s one of the few reasons Jaehwan despises mint chocolate. 

His vision comes back to him in spots. First, there are coloured blurs. In turn, those become fuzzy outlines, and then finally, when Jaehwan enters into that aroma of foreboding, a crystalline image is presented to him. 

So he can see the silhouettes of those waiting upon his arrival clear as day. 

A sweeping set of robes adorns the shoulders of the tallest figure. Male in appearance, It might be aged anywhere between five thousand and eight thousand years. It’s a Rulemaker. From what Jaehwan remembered, there were four of them. He was in none of their good books. 

Who were they to set out the right and wrong of the world? Jaehwan’s seen enough suffering of enough sects to spit at the feet of officials. Higher ups with no care for anything but their own thriving weren’t exactly his choice of company. 

The next in line is the shortest of the five, but he knows exactly who it is this time. Aiobheann. The Fae equivalent of a watchdog. That one he could deal with. She wouldn’t say much in front of the others, that much he was sure of. She was taught to intimidate, not to initiate conversation.  
And she could be downright scary. Her narrowed, snake-like eyes gave her that advantage. 

Of the other three, the one who caught Jaehwan’s eye had the darkest complexion, and the rosiest blush. His apple-cheeks and freckled nose were far from the pale, ghosty visage that the _Allearain_ sought to have. Interesting. Were these five to be his Judgement?

That conjecture turned out to be wrong. Instead of loosening the shackles binding Jaehwan to commence with the Judgement, four of the configuration hastened to flee to separate sides of the room. Hmm.

Jaehwan can’t think about that for long. Tall-man is now moving towards him, and the asparas clenches his jaw in anticipation. What he hadn’t noticed was the piece of parchment scrawled on with black and blue ink that the other fae was presenting to him. 

It was a folded paper fan, and Tall-man waves it in front of Jaehwan’s face. The deliberate action sent wafting, heady honeysuckle scrambling all coherent thought. It began to choke him, and Jaehwan splutters out a cough from still- weak lungs. That was unpleasant. 

As he recovers, Jaehwan understands that the room is now a locus of activity. Those who were hidden became discernible. They’ve been watching him this entire time from the comfort of hundreds of seats set into the walls at his height three times over.

“Invoke.”  
It’s a command. The flitting figures stiffen in their designated seats feet above him where they can leer at any pathetic creature that would dare to beg for their mercy.  
But Jaehwan wouldn’t beg. From dignity or stupidity, that was a good question. 

A _Diamae_ the size of his pinky finger wavers before his eyes with hummingbird wings and icy blue eyes.   
“Counsel Invoked. _Kalan_ , conquest?”  
“Confirm,” Jaehwan sighs. Here they go again. 

“Not learned from last time, I see,” the man of the hour hears from somewhere to his left. Jaehwan lets them mutter. He instead meets those pale eyes for a lengthy stare until the _Diamae_ is relinquished of its duties and it zips through the air in circling motions far away from him. Up, up it goes until Jaehwan can no longer follow it with his eyes. 

Looks like he’s on his own this time around again. No leverage, at least. His sister ought to be around, though. No doubt she’d heard he was back and in the clutches of those who originally separated them. 

What did they call him last time? A plague? 

By Gods, he wished. A good sickening may just drive these corrupt bastards away for good. It really was a shame that Jaehwan never learned any good, powerful curses.   
He just had to be stuck with the _Diamae_ limitations, huh?

“ _Teia, Kalan_.” Too late to pick up bad habits now. The Council is Invoked.   
“ _Aye_ ,” he replies. If death was coming, let it be swiftly. 

Throughout the cavernous space, another smattering of hushed rumours. Jaehwan bristles, but his eyes fix on the chosen head speaker of the night. It’s an imposing fellow, with red and gold streaks of dust that rake across Their face in haphazard patterns. The lines extend down Their chin, jaw and underneath the neckline of the cloak so dark in pitch that Jaehwan believed he could be swallowed up by it. 

Jaehwan is struck with recognition. They were one of the three who sentenced him to his banishment so long ago. 

“Defy, _Kalan_?” Their lips do not move when They speak, but considering that Jaehwan is now locked in a staring contest with It, the voice is certainly coming from the enormous figure draped in darkness. 

“ _Aye._ ” How did that come out? The word coughed up and out of him; an alien inside his throat. 

The voice is a resounding, thunderous sound that echoes in his head. The vibrations rumble unpleasantly from beneath his flesh akin to bugs attempting to escape the confines of his skin. Jaehwan grits his teeth to the discomfort and glares daggers at the haughtily situated harbingers of misfortune. Or, he would if he could.

“Poor child. Unwanted child. Nuisance of a child,” the voice continues in its steady drawl as Jaehwan remains with his unblinking resolve. Again, violence is rarely a factor in his life. The fae is largely able to make do with relatively innocent shenanigans. Now, his body is wriggling with infuration. 

“A wipe, perhaps?”  
That snaps his mind away from his nearly blind rage.  
He must have misheard. That idea came from a distant point behind him.  
“Wipe?” The voice in his head repeats.   
No. Not that. 

Murmurs of agreement are spreading around the room even as the fae stands paralyzed.   
“No other way. Wipe easiest,” one of them says.  
“No other way. End to ruckus,” another mentions and Jaehwan swears he hears the smile in their voice. 

“Memory wipe. No other way. Clean slate.”  
“How many?”  
“All.”  
“All solves problem.”  
“No more fuss.”  
“Wipe all. Clean slate.”

Jaehwan is entirely too small here. With appendages of lead, he remains transfixed to the point in front of him, but his eyes glaze over, mind in times far distant from here. 

“Don’t,” he breathes through parted lips as apprehension sinks its icy claws into him.

Don’t. Memories are really the only thing he’s got. His sister. His Minyul. His Taekwoon. Physically gone, kept alive in his chache of memories. 

Don’t. Don’t take that away from him. Jaehwan’s hardly appreciated a clear sky. Why steal his constellations, too? 

No such thing as pleasure for a pawn, he supposes. 

But then the voice comes again. From outside this time, booming around the room, echoing off the walls to trap Jaehwan in a spiral of sound. Thousands of eyes boring into his body and not a one with the 

The sickeningly sweet lilt of the _Allearain_ to be his mind’s executioner is tainted by the predatory drawl of a frothing tongue over silky lips. 

“Counsel rules for Outright Wipe.”

Jaewhan is ready to deck that pious face with all of his force. Just one hit would be enough. Yeah. That was a nice thought in the midst of the reeling desolation. How would they react if he just mangled the entity in front of him, the one who’d made his life so miserable then given him a ray of sunlight, only to snatch it away and bring him back into the utter darkness again? 

Jaehwan hates what he becomes when he’s here.   
Rage fuels him and little else.   
He wants to be with Taekwoon.  
He likes who he is with Taekwoon. And Minyul. And Sooyoung. Really anyone who wasn’t actively trying to change him or trap him.   
What he wouldn’t give to me human. 

“Come, Kalan. You will be whole again. This is a piteous gesture,” says the red-gold demon who is now sitting cross-legged with a jeering grin that grows wider and wider with every passing second. 

Truly an unholy entity. 

“I don’t want your pity,” he spits through clenched teeth and narrowed, slitted eyes.   
He wants to be with Taekwoon.

His outspoken disobedience crumbles a fraction of the _Allearain’s_ confidence visage, and the asparas has a fleeting moment of pride in himself before it withers away. The demon is smiling again, but at a point beyond Jaehwan. 

The fae cannot move, yet.  
He wouldn’t have wanted to.

“Your wants are unwelcome, but we did invite a guest here just for you, Kalan. To make parting easier. Good of us. Greet him, will you?”

Aware that this is his Fate greeting him from the gates of the Netherworld, Jaehwan’s heart sinks into the pit of his stomach. There’s a tap-tap tapping of shoes to the floor behind him. No FaeFolk would wear attire that made such a noise. It has to be a _giall_ creation. 

Jaehwan does not need to see to know.

Perhaps there is no Devil in Hell.  
Maybe true Hell is watching as the person you love willingly entangles themselves in the spider’s web-  
And becomes consumed. 

“Taekwoon?” Jaehwan chokes out. 

The _Allearain_ begins to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a shorter but waaay more emotionally taxing chapter. BUT YALL @changbaegi on tumblr has created the first fanart of this series and it is AMAAAAAZING, please check it out, it's part of the reason I was even able to finish this chapter at all.  
> i unno if this'll work but here's a link to copy paste hnggg: https://changbaegi.tumblr.com/post/178757109213/inspired-by-hello-yearning-aplyae-mae-by


	17. Zenith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scuffle stumble, toil and trouble; Taekwoon is tenacious, but fumbles.

Tucked away in the billowing folds of the concealing cloak, Taekwoon claps a hand over his mouth at his soft outburst. Luckily for him, there was no reaction from either the fae or the monstrosity that allowed the intruder to slip into the room.

 

Bile churns in his stomach when he gets a proper look at the circumstances his lover is subject to. He is pale, sullen, with sunken cheeks and no humoured spark in his eyes that Taekwoon had come to associate with home. Instead, Jaehwan stared coldly ahead, fixing an icy stare on the other FaeFolk in the room. There was no thrum of energy to his body; he’s simply a shell of what Taekwoon knows.

 

And the restraints.

God, the restraints.

They were winding snakes of slavery that bound Jaehwan to an unblemished cage. Purpling and greenish-blue bruises decorated the exposed skin of his arms and legs since he was only clad in a thin, white shirt that hung loose and translucent around his body. The fae’s long trousers of pitch black clung tight to his body. Taekwoon could see his ribs.

 

Gulping down the vomit that was threatening to creep up his throat, Taekwoon tucks himself away into the far corner of the room, where Jaehwan is in his direct line of sight and he can tell where the end of the silver chains leads to the cuffs around his body. He really will throw up.

 

The Thing is saying something if the garbled mess of nonsense coming from its mouth is any indication, but Taekwoon can’t make sense of it, so he focuses on Jaehwan’s face. If nothing else, those were the lips Taekwoon knew.

 

As the Thing waddles around, Taekwoon scurries across the floor, dodging any rapid movements that would give him away. The cloth around his body must be pretty powerful if neither of them could tell he was present. A relief and a sorrow, since all Taekwoon wants to do is envelop Jaehwan and take him away from this awful place. Even from the short time he’s been wandering, Taekwoon knows he’ll have nightmares, but that could just be because Jaehwan is hurting and there’s next to nothing that the human can do about it in a world of the unknown.

 

The football player winces when he steps on his ankle the wrong way in an attempt to feint from a sudden widening of the Thing’s arm. He’s gotten dangerously close to Jaehwan now, which does nothing to shield Taekwoon from the sorry state his asparas is in. There are lightning streaks of scars running where his veins should be across his cheeks and purpling spots of exhaustion under his eyes that gave them their dull appearance. Taekwoon can clearly make out the skull under the skin that stretches tautly across Jaehwan’s face. His eyes begin to water.

 

Thankfully, no tears fall, but that is only due to the fact that the Thing is exclaiming something and Jaehwan has confusion etched over his features. Taekwoon should probably stop staring at Jaehwan now and look to see what the commotion is about, but that’s hard. Almost impossible actually.

 

It’s been months.

(Does Jaehwan want him?)

 

Oh, now that was surprising. Taekwoon blinks once, long and slow to himself. That was something he hadn’t thought about.

Did Jaehwan want to come back?

Sure, he’d alluded to it, but if Taekwoon was able to get him out of this place and to safety, would he want to go back with the human?

 

What if he didn’t?

The thought makes his blood run cold, and the only reason Taekwoon begins to move again is the knowledge that the Thing is grabbing onto the heart of Jaehwan’s chains and beginning to usher him across the room. Taekwoon audibly winces when Jaehwan’s knees make hard contact with the floor. A trail of dark pink droplets follow in their wake, but perhaps the red was only tinged pink from the lighting.

 

Taekwoon will kid himself into believing the substance is something other than blood.

 

There’s a door here that he can see now. He’s so close to Jaehwan that he could just reach out, just lend a helping hand to the man, but Taekwoon knows that isn’t what’s going to aid them in the long run. So he waits, and he relishes in the steady breathing and deathly glare that the fae is sending to the gross creature as a mechanism in the wall whirs and opens up into a labyrinth that Taekwoon regards with increasing anxiety.

 

It’s dark.

If there’s anything to see, Taekwoon is missing it, so he trudges after the shuffling and grunting of the slightly darker silhouette and their burden through the maze.

 

Twists and turns soon inflict vertigo sensations, and Taekwoon thinks he may as well be spinning as he hastens to keep up with the skittering creature that is dragging his fae behind it in no soft fashion. If he has the opportunity, Taekwoon is going to throttle that thing. From how tight the clasp was around Jaehwan’s throat when Taekwoon saw it in that cursed room, there was no doubt in his mind that the asparas was slowly suffocating.

 

But then he loses them.

The noises are fading away and the human is attempting desperately to stay with them but his legs just won’t move fast enough and the slobbering mess of the Thing is nowhere near that he can tell and Taekwoon comes to a walking halt.

 

Even when he strains to hear, there is nothing.

And it’s so dark. The longer that Taekwoon stands there, is comes in closer, closer, swallowing him whole-

Until he can’t breathe.

 

Some time must have passed when the stars in his peripheral vision come to light.

At the very, very least, the darkness has ebbed away. So much so that Taekwoon, when he sits up, notices that there are multiple figures waiting, presumably watching him.

 

Unsettling, actually. The shivers are attempting to crawl up his spine, but Taekwoon shrugs them away.

Except that he can’t really move all that well.

One of the figures steps forward, hauling Taekwoon up by his arms. How? This creature was about a foot shorter than him, and the athlete was not light by any means.

He should really stop questioning.

 

Hazily, the human is prompted to his feet, but the appendages below his waist don’t want to work in unison with his brain, so walking forward is a task in and of itself. There are voices ahead, from what Taekwoon can tell in his disoriented state. Many of them, perhaps upwards of thirty distinct lilts that add onto each other and create a wall of sound Taekwoon has little desire to enter in to.

But he does.

 

Taekwoon stumbles forward from the hefty shove between his shoulder blades, but does his best to pad confidently into the yawning abyss of a room. His fae stands there in silent defiance, which all at once makes Taekwoon’s heart soar and shudder. He understands acting when he sees it.

Then again, just seeing Jaehwan is enough to make him feel better.

 

The fluttering relief in his chest is short lived when Taekwoon realizes with a start that Jaehwan’s eyes are filled with abject horror. What was… what was going on? What’s he so scared of?

 

At the trembling call of his name, Taekwoon reaches a hand out only for it to fall limply at his side after a second of thought. His fae had only hastened a glance to Taekwoon’s beckoning fingers before his eyes darted away with something like guilt glazing over his gaze. Taekwoon can’t tell if he feels hurt or not.

 

There are voices that are whispering from above their heads, and the human has to crane his neck to see the figures of various sizes and colours conversing in the air. Talking about them, most likely. Taekwoon cannot distinguish their chatter as legible language. They don’t matter, anyway.

 

Taekwoon pleads with his gaze at his fae, trying to determine the extent of the damage, but now Jaehwan won’t even meet his eyes. A shadow hangs over his bangs, keeping their gazes from meeting, and Taekwoon takes a hesitant step closer to the asparas only to be stopped by a thunderous roar.

 

“No further!”

Taekwoon halts.

He was unable to see it before, the giant of a being that hovered- no, no, it was sitting- some twenty or so feet above them comfortably. It was a misshapen mass of cloth and wing furling endlessly and lazily in a wave-like pattern. What it was wearing might be alive, Taekwoon thinks.

 

It is peering down at him snidely with nothing about its face but malice. Even the sliver of eyes that the human notices are narrowed in distaste. Taekwoon’s breath comes out as a shaky pant since he’s suddenly very out of breath. Perhaps his lungs are filling with ice. It certainly feels that way, and Taekwoon clutches at his chest, coughing violently to ease the shock of cold and pain. The onset was swift and unkind to him.

 

“Don’t! Just… don’t…” Taekwoon hears Jaehwan utter from somewhere to his right. When did he move?

 

As the sensations ease, the human lifts his head to make eye contact with the Fae creature again. Right, so this was a mutual dislike. Good. That could make things easier.

 

“I am here,” Taekwoon starts with a tone of utmost importance and will, “as keeper to the asparas of whom you gave me claim.” They were words he’s been practicing in his head that the atua told him should work. They should work. They have to work, because Taekwoon has no back up plan.

 

Dreadfully, a sneer slides across the face of Taekwoon’s judge. The face is just asparas enough for Taekwoon to make it out. And he wished he hadn’t.

 

“Claim?” Is the word that pounds at his skull from inside his head. Taekwoon yelps, clutching at his temples as he crashes down hard onto one knee. “Claim! You dare!”

 

The human registers shouting from outside, from where he should be present, but Taekwoon cannot see anything but the word as it tears his mind apart at the seams.

 

Jaehwan wails in pain and Taekwoon is able to snap into the moment by tilting his head to the side where he sees Jaehwan lying limp against the hard ground, limbs sprawled unnaturally and Taekwoon howls.

 

“Why are you doing this? What’s he done to you?!” Taekwoon screams at the tremendous figure in front of him. Robes billow in translucent shapes down the pedestal, down the seat to the floor below and everything is so colourful. It’s bright and pure and Taekwoon hates it. He hates the contrast of Jaehwan against the backdrop because he was pale and the tinge of the room make him look so sick and frail. It wasn’t the Jaehwan he knew, but Hell if the human wasn’t going to bring him home.

 

“He doesn’t deserve this! Give him back! He’s MINE!” He screams and his voice cracks in the middle, but it’s only because his throat was beginning to grow raw. Soon, he would go hoarse. But, it was worth it if he was going to be heard.

 

The figure’s body stills- including the motion of the material objects enclosing it- and Taekwoon stumbles to gain a standing position and his dignity, but trips on his feet to land squarely on his backside in absolute awe of the powerful being before him. Even as the human is struck frozen in dumbfounded fascination, the Being grows in length and height until it towers over the strikingly smaller form. Taekwoon believes that he had just made an incredible blunder.

 

“Insolence,” the Allearain hisses while raising its now enormous hands. With palms open towards the sky, the Fae glowers with eyes that glow in otherworldly tandem. Taekwoon swallows down the lump in his throat. From the air, there are shrieks as the rest of the fae flee for their safety, leaving the human to reap the consequences of his actions.

 

Faintly, he might hear Jaehwan struggling from behind the shadows that hold him, because that it certainly the asparas’ muffled, alarmed lilt. It’s a shame Taekwoon can’t make sense of the words before they’re carried away on a strong gust of wind that sends the man rolling backwards until he crashes hard against the wall. The splitting headache that follows tells him that he hasn’t quite healed fully from the injury he took all those months ago.

 

The shaking fingers that reach to the base of his scalp meet wetness, and even as the room spins around him, Taekwoon can clearly see the crimson trail of blood that dyes them once they come back into view.

 

This is fine.  

 

Jaehwan is definitely screaming now, though, and when Taekwoon raises a stare blurred by pain and shock, the asparas is gaping with wide-eyed, terror-stricken strife. Not at Taekwoon, obviously. The human manages a weak crack of his lips (a smile?). Jaehwan does not return it.

 

He’s too busy being roughly ushered away by flurry of movement. At one time, the asparas was nearly within his reach, and in the next moment, gone without a trace.

 

Taekwoon could sob.

(If there are tears building at the corners of his eyes, none of the Folk say a word.)

Silence descends upon them instead. Complete and condescending.

 

Taekwoon has utterly fucked up.

Is that why he fails to struggle when the arms grab at him?

 

There’s an excruciating stretch when his arms are stuck tight to his sides for a moment while the two strangers descend upon him. One binds his hands behind him in a way that twists his spine with some twine-like material as the other’s pointer finger presses hard against the middle of his forehead. Taekwoon blinks, and the room is gone. He should be used to this by now, really.

 

With groggy indifference, Taekwoon allows himself to be slammed into an old, wooden chair that has seen better times. The arms are worn with dust and decay, the rotting planks at risk of breaking apart. Slivers protrude dangerously from it in places marked by fingernail scrapes.

 

Is that blood?

 

“I’m going to be sick.”

 

“Not on the upholstery.” Who is this now? An unfamiliar voice, though that REALLY shouldn’t surprise him. If he has to guess, Taekwoom would say it’s a female, but he really only has human voices and the limited FaeFolk he’s met to go off of.

 

“You are foolish,” the stranger hums to Taekwoon right beside his ear so the hot breath is easily felt.

 

“And what… do you want..?” Taekwoon manages after another moment of silence as he fights down the bile rising in his throat. The acid taste lingers on his tongue.

 

“Call me a translator. No human was meant to enter Council. Here, you will be heard.”

 

“You guys have really fucked up rules here, y’know?” The human gripes.

“So I’ve heard.” But Taekwoon can’t ask her what she means by that because the stranger is flitting away.

 

Shit.

 

Odd though, she had a lot more human qualities about her than he would have expected.

 

SLAM!

Taekwoon startles and the pointed ends of dull loose nails jab into his thighs and lower back. He winces.

 

The opposing noise was the din of a Fae appearing across from him out of thin air. It was the giant but… not so giant. Somehow, it was rather small, actually. Perhaps half of Taekwoon’s height, if he were to guess. Was everything in this realm putting on a facade?

And Their chair was definitely nicer. To call it a chair would be an injustice, actually. Along with the Allearain appeared an illustrious, bejeweled throne glittering even under the dim light speckled as it was with amethyst, diamonds and rubies. It makes the Elder fae seem even tinier with its body set against the piece -not majestic like it was meant for.

 

Still, no weariness etched into the creature's features rid it of its malice. Taekwoon wasn't in the clear yet, that was for certain. The tension was palpable.

 

“You cannot have Kalan,” the Allearain speaks slowly and sluggishly, the words foreign on its tongue. Taekwoon bristles in alarm, opening his mouth to protest only to be shushed by the figure opposite him raising a hand in dismissal. “He broke law.”

 

“He did that before too and you just sent him right onto me, so maybe you could repeat that process and let us be on our way,” Taekwoon snaps in a jumble. The Allearain blinks at him before turning its attention to the mysterious female. They must have some non-verbal form of communication, because Taekwoon definitely doesn’t hear them talk, but there’s a dawn of understanding about the fae soon after.

 

“Too many chances. Last chance broken Kalan. Retribution.” Why did it know that word of all words? The human’s jaw clenches in earnest.

 

“Listen up. I didn’t come all this way for nothing. There has to be something, anything! I can do to change your mind. A riddle, a trial, a fucking quest, just give me a shot!” Taekwoon is losing control of his thoughts, unable to keep any at bay as he was normally opt to do. This has to be an enchantment. His body does feel warmer than he’s used to.

 

“Quest?” If that isn’t humor lacing the Ancient’s tone, then Taekwoon is deaf.  
“Y-yes. A quest. You, uh, you do those here?” He tries again with a voice growing ever fainter because piercing eyes of icy white lacking any pupils are fixated on him much more intensely now. Taekwoon can tell by the way his skin crawls.

 

Wormy phalanges curl around either arm of the throne and Taekwoon can see now that rings and jewels of brilliant pigments adorn the hands of this giant. Pretty and all, but was it necessary?

 

“Perhaps… a quest…” the Fae drawls and Taekwoon shudders, but wills himself not to step down. The fake confidence that got him standing again is slowly leaking from his body, through his feet and the tips of his fingers, but he needs to cling to it. This isn’t about him.

 

But, what should he say? That fucking face looking at him is so unnerving that Taekwoon clenches and unclenches his fists at his sides in an attempt to rid himself of the uncomfortable sensations it was leaving him with.

 

“Your quest,” it starts and Taekwoon pauses his movements. “One in mind. Finding quest.”

Finding? Did it mean..?

“Like, hide and seek?” The human prompts. The Allearain doesn’t have a completely understanding expression, but it must get the gist.

 

“You will find Kalan,” It confirms slowly, like Taekwoon is an anomaly who could not possibly be spoken to as though he were not a child, “in a place I have hidden.”

 

“Yeah, alright,” that sounded reasonable. Then again, this world is new and big and Taekwoon knows nothing about it, which will definitely be a problem.

 

“You agree to quest?” The Allearain asks him, and before Taekwoon can stop himself-

“Yes.”

“Good. Leave with Messenger.”

 

Taekwoon has no opportunity to ask what the Hell that means. In a whirl of motion and colour, he is both set free of his bindings and plunged into the unknown. Jaehwan was gonna be getting an earful when this was done and through. Mark his words.

 

There’s someone else in this new place with him even as his vision swirls and his legs wobble underneath him. They take Taekwoon by surprise and he twists on his ankle to raise his fists at the intruder, but a giggle takes him aback.

 

Oh, he sees her now. The translator. She’s wearing the same clothes, so time must not be much of a factor here. Taekwoon’s body is not used to whatever magic they were using to teleport him, though, and he doubles over to retch dryly into the dewy grasses in front of him. Deja vu hits him the way a brick wall would were he running full speed into said brick wall.

His stomach is empty.

 

“Translator and Messenger?” Taekwoon huffs when he’s composed enough to do so. His hands rest on his knees, stabilizing him enough he won’t fall over into the excrement.

 

“There are those of us with many roles. You, Father and Player. I, Translator, Messenger, Guardian,” comes the voice under the long, shimmering hair and purple shroud that conceals her face.

 

“Right,” he manages to gasp because the human is now very used to not knowing the people he’s talking to.

 

Her presence is soothing. That’s what Taekwoon notices. He doesn’t have to be around her for very long to feel more at ease. He can tell that her job doesn’t require attacking him anyway, so what was the point of being worried around her?

 

“Do you have a name?” He wonders. Getting her talking means he can assess the situation better. From what he can see, they’re near a standard forest. He may almost think he were home were it not for the aura. A pang of homesickness resides within him as well as a vivid picture of Minyul, waiting to be roused from bed for school. His life is an eternity away.

 

But, he has a while to work and a fae to save.

 

“My name is of no consequence, but you shall not know it, nor remember,” is her counter to Taekwoon’s probe.

 

“Can you tell me where we are then?”

 

“Labyrinth. Many who enter do not return,” the woman warns him. It’s odd. Taekwoon thinks she sounds melancholy, if not outright sad.

“It’s not like I have a choice,” he dismisses her worry.

“No. You are correct. Giall,” she begins. Her body stirs for a second and Taekwoon straightens up with his back aching. Her fingers are twitching at her sides, as though she were itching to do something…. and then the silver-haired lady lifts the lilac veil from her eyes and allows the human the honour of laying his gaze upon her. He realizes why he’s been so at ease.

 

Jaehwan’s eyes are reflected at him. The same shape, the same size, the same width away on either side from the bridge of his (her!) nose. They even have the same spark to them, though the crows’ feet are entirely more visible on this fae than his.

 

While the stars orbit in her irises, the shape morphs to a crescent moon, and Taekwoon understands. She smiles so immeasurably dismally his heart breaks.

 

“Save him, will you? He was never meant for here.”

How could Taekwoon deny Jaehwan’s flesh and blood of this? He nods his head to the fae’s sibling, and the Messenger drops her veil back into place.

 

“Kalan grew weak from the contract. I am certain his strength with remain in the giall realm once it is void,” the Messenger informs him. All the better. If not, they would find a way through it. For some reason, Taekwoon has the nerve to consider that he could handle the Allearain if he had to deal with them again.

 

“Thank y-” He wants to say to her once they reach the gaping opening into the woods that will serve as his task. The greenery encompassing the trail into the dark is rotting and old; any leaves that are left on the trees are browned, old, and scarce, yet the trail itself hardly filters any natural light through it. Just from a look, Taekwoon knows he has his work cut out for him.

 

“-ou,” he manages to finish, but in vain. The Messenger is gone, and with her, all of the tranquility that was keeping him sane up until this point.

 

There was no use in dilly-dallying. Taekwoon gathers the rest of his courage and -ignoring the tiny, cautionary inner monologue yelling at him to turn back, to enter into the realm of humans and forget about the fae- strikes his path down the trail.

 

Rustling from behind him implies that the path out is blocked. He doesn’t have to turn around to know, but he does anyway. There really was only one way out, now, assuming those FaeFolk were being truthful.

 

“You can do this, Taekwoon,” the raven-haired man announces to himself as he takes the first steps into the labyrinth. Somewhere in here, Jaehwan is waiting for him, and then they can leave. Things will be like they always should have been.

 

He’ll just have to hold onto that.

 

Footfalls are the only company the football player has as Taekwoon treks through the overcast underbrush. Tangles of spider webs and slivers from bird net bedding fall into his hair and block passages through the twists and turns of the path. Trouble truly comes when the path itself begins to branch. The forks in the road could be leading him to death, or to his desire, so Taekwoon heeds the advice of the Messenger and chooses the paths to follow from his instincts. He does not allow himself to linger long on the decisions, either, lest he second guess himself. If he is going to find Jaehwan, he cannot waste time dithering.

 

Hours into the winding twists and turns, the whisks of statements start. Taekwoon first thinks he imagines them, since they’re nearly silent, but as they gain momentum, the awful truth is revealed.

 

The woods are speaking to him. That has to be it, because there’s been no other living soul in the entire vicinity that he’s been able to see, and the voices raise by the moment.

 

‘Give up,’ they say. ‘Let it be. Return from whence you came. Be free.’

It’s not like he could be if he wanted to. Taekwoon reminds himself of Jaehwan, waiting for him, probably detained in the same way as in that ghastly room and presses onward.

 

“Weak,” they murmur to him. “Useless, vile. Weak!”

“So WHAT?!” Taekwoon screams at the voice, throwing a fist to the air like the tantrum will make any difference. “Huh?! What if I’m weak?! What’s wrong with that?!” His echo is the response.

 

Taekwoon starts to jog. He pays some attention to where he’s going, but not nearly as much as in the time previous. What was the point? He’s can let his gut make the decisions; what better way than to just let go and make a run for it.

 

Time passes with tragic continuity with Taekwoon wandering. Every turn leaves him more dejected, the blaze of hope he had at the start only a dying coal in his chest. There isn’t an end in sight. He won’t see Minyul again. He won’t make it to Jaehwan. Clear truths ring about him, shattering his body with their volume while the human drags himself deeper and deeper into the endless abyss long after his jogging pace was cut short with exhaustion. Branches of trees grow thicker and closer together, tugging at his clothes and scratching his skin until droplets of blood mark his trail akin to breadcrumbs.

 

Taekwoon reaches out with desperate fingers to the pitch black trail that extends ever further ahead. He can’t do it. He’s come this far, and he can’t do it.

 

“Jaehwan!” He’s been calling the name over and over to be met with nothing but insults and contempt from the atmosphere. Taekwoon’s voice became hoarse with use a while ago, but that does not stop him from his frenzied attempts.

 

He really is useless.

Taekwoon begins to laugh. It starts involuntarily, as a rumble deep in his stomach before it evolves into complete, hysterical glee.

 

What did he expect? To be the white knight of the story? Save the damsel, get the girl and happily ever after?

 

What a crock of shit.

He’s slowed to barely a walk. Any movement forward is just the steady pendulum of his legs swinging under his hips and his chest dips ever forward. The trees close in on him here with gnarled trunks that grab at his feet to drag him away from the path and into their embrace.

 

Taekwoon could let go. He could do that. He could let himself free of this. There’s a pain in his head that throbs and throbs and it refuses to cease, soon spreading throughout his limbs.

 

Is he walking across fire now?

 

Is this the final divergence?

The path forks again and he barely focuses; just moves, moves forward.

He bothers to even do that even as the wood grows steadily thicker and treacherous. Taekwoon stumbles over rocks and uneven path alike, over tree-limbs and weeds. Stooped as an older

man may be, Taekwoon meanders about the maze. When he looks up, there are no stars.

 

“Please,” he still begs them. “Please.”

 

He might be crawling now. Vines encircle his thighs and wrists, but he tugs away and struggles forward. Every inch is an inch gained, he tells himself. But, why keep going? Hunger gnaws at his belly, thirst in his throat and aches in his muscles, but he endures.

 

Until the trees become sparser. Until the roots unfurl their clenching grip from his body and the darkness subsides. Moonlight streams down upon the path and forces away the dark that lingers.

 

So when he hears it:

 

“Taekwoon?”

 

It’s Heaven on Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi sorry this semester is rly killing me, but i hope you guys still like this! We're nearing the finale ahhhhH!! (thas me screamin)

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm not really sure how many chapters there are going to be because this was originally going to be a oneshot, but I guess if you guys like it I'll just keep going with it and it can be a journey ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪  
> Also come yell at me abt vixx on tumblr @ wonscronch if u wanna. (u don't have to obviously, this is a democracy, Susan).


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